Sandro Botticelli: The Golden Age of Florence (Part 1)
Sandro Botticelli created some of the most alluring images of Italian Renaissance, but who was he and how did he transform the history of art? And was his great masterpiece Primavera originally conceived as an instruction manual for a young bride's wedding night? Join Alastair and James as they begin a two part series on the life and work of a Renaissance master.
Artworks in this episode:
Sandro Botticelli, Primavera, c.1480s, Uffizi, Florence Fra' Filippo Lippi, Madonna and Child with Two Angels, c.1460-65, Uffizi, Florence Sandro Botticelli, Portrait of a Youth, c.1482-85, National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C. Sandro Botticelli, Portrait of a Young Man holding a Roundel, c.1480, Private Collection Jan van Eyck, Portrait of a Man (Self Portrait?), 1433, National Gallery, London Sandro Botticelli, Portrait of Smeralda Bandinelli. c.1475, Victoria and Albert Museum, London Sandro Botticelli, Portrait of a Man with the Medal of Cosimo de' Medici the Elder, c.1474-75, Uffizi, Florence Sandro Botticelli, Portrait of Michele Marullo, c. 1500, Private Collection Sandro Botticelli, Adoration of the Magi, c.1475, Uffizi, Florence Sandro Botticelli, Giuliano de' Medici, 1478-80, Uffizi, Florence Sandro Botticelli, Possible portrait of Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco de' Medici, c.1479, Uffizi, Florence Donatello, David, c.1440s, Bargello, Florence Sandro Botticelli, Pallas and the Centaur, c.1482, Uffizi, Florence
Recommended Reading: Ana Debenedetti, Botticelli: Artist and Designer, 2024 Mark Evans, Botticelli Reimagined, 2016 Walter Pater, Studies in the History of the Renaissance, 1873 Links Follow Stories of Art on Instagram: @storiesofart.heni For more great art content visit www.heni.com or visit the Heni Talks YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/@HENITalks
Dr James Fox is a Cambridge art historian, bestselling author and multi award-winning broadcaster. He is Director of Studies in History of Art at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, and Creative Director of the Hugo Burge Foundation. His critically-acclaimed books on art and culture have been translated into fourteen languages. His most recent title and best-seller Craftland: a journey through Britain’s Lost Arts and Vanishing Trades (2025) has been named Waterstones Book of the Year, BBC’s book of the week and shortlisted for the Nero Book Prize. James is perhaps best known for his many arts documentaries for the BBC, including A History of Art in Three Colours, The Art of Japanese Life The Age of the Image and Nature and Us: a history through Art
Alastair Sooke is an author and broadcaster, and chief art critic at The Telegraph, for which he has been covering art since 2003. He has presented more than 60 hours of television and radio for the BBC (Modern Masters, Treasures of Ancient Egypt, An Art Lovers’ Guide) and written several books, including studies of Henri Matisse and Georges Seurat, and a history of Pop art. He is a trustee of The Ampersand Foundation and was educated at the University of Oxford and the Courtauld Institute of Art.
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