Lorenzo de' Medici - Final Phase of Early Renaissance

By the middle of the Fifteenth century the aim of Florentine artists were changing. The technical aspects of art becoming increasingly important, while the renewed passion for mythology led logically to an increase in the search for pagan subject matter. The social and intellectual position of the artist had changed as well, no longer was artistry considered a trade but now poet and was shown respect as cultivated and imaginative minds deserved.
Sandro Botticelli was the most expressively original Florentine painter of the late Fifteenth century. Born in 1444, it is assumed that he studied with Fra Filippo Lippi. Before he reached thirty, Botticelli was invited into Medici's charmed circle of artists, philosophers and scholars. Primavera could also be called the Garden of Venus, for that is the setting of the painting. In this wonderfully magnificent painting, Botticelli sets up supremely graceful figures in an extremely intricate setting.