Having, in consequence of this work, obtained much credit and reputation, Sandro was appointed by the Guild of Porta Santa Maria to paint a picture in San Marco, the subject of which is the Coronation of Our Lady, who is surrounded by a choir of angels, the whole extremely well designed, and finished by the artist with infinite care.[1] He executed various works in the Medici Palace for the elder Lorenzo, more particularly a figure of Pallas[2] on a shield wreathed with vine branches, whence flames are proceeding: this he painted of the size of life. A San Sebastiano was also among the most remarkable of the works executed for Lorenzo.[3] In the church of Santa Maria Maggiore, in Florence, is a Pieta with small figures by this master: this is placed beside the chapel of the Panciatichi, and is a very beautiful work.[4] For different houses in various parts of the city Sandro painted many pictures of a round form, with numerous figures of women undraped. Of these there are still two examples at Gastello, a villa of the Duke Cosimo, one representing the birth of Venus, who is borne to earth by the Loves and Zephyrs: the second also presenting the figure of Venus crowned with flowers by the Graces; she is here intended to denote the Spring, and the allegory is expressed by the painter with extraordinary grace.[5]
In the Via de Servi and in the Palace of Giovanni Vespucci, which now belongs to Piero Salviati, this master painted numerous pictures around one of the chambers: they
- ↑ Now in the Academy of the Fine Arts in Florence, and considered one of the best works of this master.
- ↑ Of this Pallas nothing is now known. — Ed. Flor., 1832.
- ↑ The fate of the San Sebastian is also unknown.— Ibid.
- ↑ In the time when Richa wrote (1755), this Pietà was in the Sacristy of the church. The Italian authorities now declare its present place unknown. The latest Florentine commentators (1849) inquire, if that now in the Pinacoteca of Munich may not be the work in question. It has been engraved in Galleria incisa e illustrata, &c., now in course of publication at Florence.
- ↑ The birth of Venus is in the Uffizj. The Venus crowned by the Graces is also in the Uffizj, but the latter is in the private corridor which leads to the Pitti Palace. Both these figures are the size of life. In the Royal Gallery of Berlin, is a third of these nude figures of Venus, by Botticelli, of smaller size, and with long golden hair, painted on canvas, the ground very dark. — Ed. Flor., 1849.
