Botticelli's Secret by Joseph Luzzi

WHY THIS BOOK

At the end of last year I was fortunate enough to live by an art museum that had teamed up with the Uffizi museum in Italy to share some of their most prized possessions. The show was centered around Botticelli, Florence, and the Renaissance. Before I went to the museum, I did a little research on Botticelli as he is not one of the painters that I'm familiar with. I know a lot of his works, and have been lucky to see several of them in person, but I didn't know anything about him as a person or artist.

After leaving the gallery, I realized I needed to see it again, and do more research. Enter Botticelli's Secret by Joseph Luzzi. A recently published book on rediscovering the Renaissance, Florence, and the Botticelli drawings of Dante's Divine Comedy.

QUICK POINTS & SYNOPSIS

If this is the first time you're hearing about Sandro sBotticelli, Florence during the Renaissance, or the Medici family; this is not the book for you. If you have read The Divine Comedy and want to learn more about Dante and the Medici family this IS the book for you.

Joseph Luzzi had a difficult task when he wrote this book. There is another book (I found out later) that covers Botticelli's life and his artistic style that is still considered THE book. However, Luzzi wanted to write about one particular project that Botticelli immersed himself in. Through a long period of time, Sandro Botticelli worked on drawings to illustrate Dante's Divine Comedy. This was a commissioned work by one of the Medici family members, but was never enjoyed by them.

POINTS OF INTEREST

I also found out, through reading this book, that Sandro Botticelli did not feel the need to write anything down. He thought that his paintings spoke for themselves. This makes art history tricky when you're trying to cover one artist, and a good reminder that writing things down can be helpful for the future.

Something that really struck me while viewing the paintings this time, was the use of bright colors and the use of the feminine form being represented so differently from the typical Renaissance woman. During the time of the Renaissance there was a huge emphasis on paintings of a religious theme. Botticelli decided to take these themes and combine them with mythology. Often times the mythological female (Venus, Pallas, etc.) takes a similar stance or pose to the Renaissance Virgin Mary, but is clothed in nothing or see through cloth. Her hair is also often blowing in a wind that the viewer can almost feel while looking at the paintings. There is movement all around the center of the painting (which is often a woman) yet the central figure is still and calm. According to Luzzi, allowing the hair to blow in the wind and create movement all around the central figure it is a huge knock against religious paintings and forcing the viewer to accept the new way of the Renaissance. A sort of thumbing your nose at the old medieval way of life.

RECOMMEND?

As stated above, if you're unfamiliar with Botticelli paintings, Florence during the Renaissance, and Dante I would put this on the back burner and read something else first. If you are even somewhat familiar with these ideas and artists then this is an excellent book that will add a ton of detail to your Florence Renaissance knowledge.

After reading this book, I was completely inspired to learn even more about Florence, Italy and the Medici family. I will definitely be looking into this time period and this powerful family for next year's Book Talks. Enjoy, and let me know how you get on. Ciao!