BOTULPH
709
BOTULPH
look of melancholy on the face of the Mother of God
bad a strange attraction for the painter. His
portrait of himself in the "Destruction of Core,
Dathan, and Abiron" shows his natural inclination
to intense earnestness, and in the "Outcasts" he
bas depicted the profoundest depths of grief.
II. Biblical Subjects.— In 1481 Sixtus IV sum- moned BotticelU, along with other painters, to Rome to decorate the new Sistine Chapel. According to the biographer, Vasari, he was even to superintend the entire work. In the chapel Botticelli painted three frescoes which represent events in the lives jf Moses and Christ. No less than seven scenes are united in the "Life of the Youthful Moses", so that the composition lacks unity. Without doubt the irtist laboured under a feeling of restraint. The [composition is animated in parts and is intended to irouse the feelings. The "Destruction of Core, Dathan, and Abiron" is represented in three scenes. rhe figure of Moses appears here in all the majesty «hich God had granted him for the punishment of the rebels. There is an interesting connexion be- tween this picture and Perugino's "Granting of the Keys to Peter" on the opposite wall. Moses in the fullness of his might is the counterpart of Peter to nhom the Keys of Heaven are entrusted. Over igainst the fresco of the proving of the youthful VIoses, Botticelli painted from the New Testament the "Temptation of Christ". The pope has this picture before him when, seated upon his throne, be is present at the celebration of the Mass. Strange to say, the foreground of the painting represents the purification of a leper before a company of eccle- siastics and secular dignitaries and contains besides in allusion to the pope. The explanation of the scene is as follows: Moses had to undergo trials before ne could become the leader of his people, so also the Saviour had to suffer in order to heal mankind from [he leprosy of sin, and so also the pope in order to [•arry out Christ's missions. As an allegorical indi-
- 'ation of this a hospital built by Sixtus IV is sho\\'n
n the picture. It must be acknowledged that the painter executed the difficult task assigned to him n the chapel with striking skill. Feeling the im- portance of this work Botticelli carried out his de- signs almost entirely himself; the smallest details show the infinite pains he took. In these frescoes le has given a large amount of space to Roman irchitecture, thereby setting a good working ex- imple to the painters coming after him. Of Botti- celli's other Biblical pictures mention may be made )f the "Birth of Christ", which was intended to be I memorial of Savonarola. While a chorus of angels
- ing the praises of God above the manger, in this
licture, tnree angels below lead Dominican monks owards the Saviour, Christ, who had been pro- •laimed by Savonarola to be king of the city of •'lorence. We have also an " Adoration of the Magi " n four examples (Florence, London, and St. Peters- mrg). This canvas is full of figures and has a back- round composed of stately architecture and land- cape. The copy at Florence is famous on account if the portraits of the Medici it contains, which were ntroduced in accordance with the custom of the ime. About 1500 Botticelli produced the two xamples of the "Lamentation of Christ" which re now at Munich and Milan. In this composition he expression of grief is deep b>it subdued.
III. Portraits. — Among the twenty-four portraits f popes in the Sistine chapel five are by BotticelU. n the church of the Ognissanti at Florence there is
celebrated picture of St. Augustine by Botticelli pposite to a St. Jerome by Ghirlandajo. There re two portraits of Giuliano de' Medici in existence nd an excellent portrait of a woman at Frankfort.
IV. Other Subjects. — In celebration of a wedding iotticelli painted in the villa of the Tornabuoni near
XL— 45
Fiesole an allegorical scene representing the Seven
Arts and the Virtues paying their homage to the
newly married pair. Among his mythological pic-
tures may be mentioned the " Venus" who sails upon
a shell towards the island which she has chosen for
her habitation. Another mythological subject is
"Venus and Mars". BotticelU contributed the
enthroned " Fortitude" and "Spring" to the alle-
gorical style of painting so popular in his day. The
"Calumny of Apelles", which is realistic in execu-
tion, is essentially allegorical. Closely relt^ted to
these works are the more than ninety illustrations
to Dante's "Divine Comedy", that poem which,
from Giotto to Michelangelo, has stimulated the
imagination of so many painters. Four sheets
executed in colour seem to indicate an intention to
carry out the whole work in the same manner after
the designs had once been made with pen and pencil.
Many of the pictures are not more than outUned or
sketched. There is, however, much that is ad-
mirable in these designs, which formed one of the
chief occupations of the last years of the painter.
The fidelity to nature in the drawing of the human
figure, the contemplative expression of the faces,
the dramatic animation of the action, and the skilful
arrangement of the perspective make these designs
a last triumph for BotticelU.
Monographs by SupiNo (Florence, 1900); Steinmann
(Leipzig, 1897); Dodson, tr, (New York, 1901); Berenson,
The Florentine Painters of the Renaissance (New York and
London, 1898); Plcnkett, Sandro Botticelli (London, 1900).
G. GlETMANN.
Botulph (or Botolf), Saint, Abbot, date of birth unknown; died c. 680. St. Botulph, the saint whose name is perpetuated in that of the American city of Boston, Massachusetts, was certainly an historical personage, though the story of his life is very con- fused and unsatisfactory. What information we possess about him is mainly derived from a short biography by Folcard, monk of St. Bertin and Abbot of Thorney, who wrote in the eleventh century (Hardy, Catalogue of Brit. Hist., I, 373). According to him Botulph was born of noble Saxon parents who were Christians, and was sent with his brother Adulph to the Continent for the purpose of study. Adulph remained abroad, where he is stated to have become Bishop of Utrecht, though his name does not occur in any of the ancient lists. Botulph, re- turning to England, found favour with a certain Ethelmund, "King of the southern Angles", whose sisters he had knou-n in Ciermany, and was by him permitted to choose a tract of desolate land upon which to build a monastery. This place, surrounded by water and called Icanhoe (Ox-island), is com- monly identified with the town of Boston in I^incoln- shire, mainly on account of its name (Boston = Botulph 's town). There is, however, something to suggest that the true spot may be the village of Iken in Suffolk which of old was almost encircled by the little river Aide, and in which the church is also dedicated to St. Botulph. In favour of Lincolnshire must be reckoned the fact that St. Botulph was much honoured in the North and in Scotland. Thus his feast was entered in the York calendar but not in that of Sarum. Moreover, even Folcard speaks of the Scots as Botulph's neighbours {vicini). In favour of Suffolk, on the other hand, may be quoted the tradition that St. Botulph, who is also called "bishop", was first buried at Grundisburgh, a village near Woodbridge, and afterwards translated to Bury St. Edmunds. This, however, may be another person, since he is always closely associated with a certain St. Jurmin (Arnold, Memorials of Bury, I, 3.52). That Botulph really did build a monastery at Icanhoe is attested by an entry in the Anglo- Saxon Chronicle under the year (i.54: Botulf ongan thcet mynsler limbrian cEt Yceanho, i. e. Botulph began
