Portrait of Giuliano de Medici by Botticelli Postcard

Portrait of Giuliano de' Medici by Sandro Botticelli, c. 1478-1480, is a tempera on wood panel painting depicting the co-ruler of Florence and great patron of the arts in near profile, wearing a red cloak against an architectural background. The Medici commissioned a number of masterpieces of the High Italian Renaissance. In this portrait Botticelli left the hard outlines of architectural forms plainly visible through the thin tempera paint film, as linear perspective drawing was one of the chief innovations of Botticelli’s generation of Renaissance painters. Sandro Botticelli (1445-1510) was a Florentine painter of the of the early Italian Renaissance who apprenticed under the master Filippo Lippi. With strong Gothic influences, the mature work of Botticelli reflected a study of antique classical sculpture and was noted for its linear grace and rhythm, flattened relief-like forms with strong contours, and subtle colouring. The complexity of meanings in Botticelli’s compositions, from sources drawn from classical antiquity, mythology and philosophy, enthraled scholars for centuries.