#follower of sandro botticelli

[7pleiades7]

The Virgin and Child with Saint John and an Angel (c. 1490), (detail), by the Workshop of Sandro Botticelli (1445-1510), tempura on wood, 84.5 x 84.5 cm, The National Gallery, London

[magnificartandhumanities]

Magnificat

Sandro Botticelli. La Madonna del Magnificat, 1481.

Luogo: Firenze, Galleria degli Uffizi.

Descrizione: è un tondo, dipinto con la tecnica della tempera su tavola, in cui è presente una donna bionda che rappresenta la Madonna, seduta su un trono dorato con un bambino in braccio, che incarna Gesù. Diversi sono i simboli che rimandano alla religione e alla spiritualità. Ad esempio, il libro: che riporta due tipi di testi differenti, a sinistra, il canto profetico di Zaccaria, padre di Giovanni Battista, il quale celebra appunto la nascita del figlio, patrono di Firenze. A destra, invece, si riconoscono le parole della preghiera "Magnificat", che sotto dettatura del piccolo Gesù, Maria sta trascrivendo.

Quest'opera intrisa di bellezza e simbolismo, mi ha ispirata nel creare il mio blog e la pagina instagram Magnificart72.

Vi allego il link per seguirmi: https://www.instagram.com/magnificart72?igsh=MTR5eTJvdWxyanhucQ==

Please, follow me. Thanks.

[lockedcemetary]

The Birth of Venus

a/n: this is probably bad, wrote it at 1 am and have never written before and doubt anyone will even see this. written with male/ gender neutral reader in mind but i don’t think i mentioned sex or gender at all, if anyone does see this and likes it or has feedback, tell me!

also not proofread lol

_______________________________________________

hannibal who asks you to be his muse for a nude portrait. He presents this request as politely and professionally as possible, to hide his true intentions. Hannibal who knows damn well he wouldn’t need a reference to properly etch your figure onto parchment, he’s already done it dozens of times.

You, being none the wiser, agree. Albeit a bit hesitantly, but you agree nonetheless. fast forward to the arranged date and time, he has unclothe yourself in his bathroom that’s attached to the master bedroom, for your comfort, he explains. he waits patiently with his sketchbook in hand, legs crossed away from your view. you pay no attention to his body language, but anyone who was even slightly educated on seeing the signs would be able to deduce that he was enjoying the situation in another light.

you exit the bathroom, a towel draped over yourself. you stand a bit over a yard away from him, unsure of what to do with yourself. he assures you that there is no need to be nervous, it’s just you and him, no danger or judgement. this eases you slightly, though he can tell you’re still tense.

he instructs you to place the towel on the desk behind you, and you follow. you turn back to him to see him already looking at you, is that desire in his eyes? Of course not, why would that be the case? he lets his eyes rake across you, taking in small details that he mentally stores away. he realizes he’s staring, and staring is rude, so he pulls his eyes back to his paper. this is when he begins his rough sketch, he will go in and clean everything up later. when he is happy with his sketch, finishing the outline with only a few stolen glances of the beauty in front of him, he looks back up. you’re looking at him, watching his hands in particular. from this angle you can make out the rough shape of yourself, it makes you blush a bit as you realize just the situation you remain in. he sees the pink dusting your cheeks and neck, but doesn’t comment on it. he simply stares.

he drags his line of sight onto the page once more, adding finer details as the minutes pass. he can feel it against his thigh now, but he dare not speak of it or even acknowledge it. this has never been a problem when it was just him, though he knew it would arise when you were standing in front of him as his hand graced the page. he flicks his eyes up for only a second, to regain his senses. the image was starting to take shape now. you could see it, and you recognized it? it was you, in the place of Venus in the renaissance painting The Birth of Venus by Sandro Botticelli.

you couldn’t make out the faces of the other three people in the image, but that wasn’t important. what was important was that Hannibal had led you here, just to simply take in your grace. you hadn’t known it, but this wasn’t simply a ploy to get you undressed in front of him, even if that was part of it. as elegant and chaste as hannibal likes to pretend he is. but he chose to memorialize you in the place of venus, the goddess of love, beauty, and sex. (atleast those are the motifs that apply here)

when he presented the image to you, your eyes widened on instinct. and you took a step forward to take the sketchbook from his hands and get a better look of it yourself, a better look of you, i suppose. Hannibal took note of the decreased proximity, and let his eyes wander. oh if only you knew how often you flitted about his mind. it’d end him, like you inevitably would.

________________________________

i was listening to the song Black Beauty by Lana Del Rey while writing this btw, good song.

[dastardly6sharkzz]

Hunting Locale Icons for the Six Kings maps, ignore the Ruined City its not important and needs a redo. Some further information and explanations on some >>

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Icon inspiration and representations:

- Scarlet Swamp icon is made to pretty clearly show the namesake of the area, a red tree with green swamp water and cattails, red and green are a large part of the map, being contrasting colors.

- Boreal Abyss icon is inspired by the "Map of Hell" Painting by Sandro Botticelli. As the area is already a representation of the layers of hell, the icon should follow suit. Not all layers are represented, but they also dont fit so whatever.

- GoldThorn Ridge evidently puts both the ridge and the Goldthorn root front and center with more yellow tones to get across a more arid desert-esque area, which it is.

- Riptide Mangrove is based both on Polynesian iconography and the main gimmick of the area, where mangroves are so large they create riptides in-between their roots.

- Ruined City is more of a visualization of what I want out of the map, a ruined wartorn husk of what once a great expansive city, with a moody dull sky and semi contant bombardment of metors coming from an active volcano.

- Volcanic Gorge was an interesting challenge, it took some iteration, didn't know how to properly translate a Volcanic Canyon w/o it being just another Volcano, but with some input, I think its translated pretty well as a bleeding gash in the world, with a jungle thriving on top.

- The Twisting Woodland pretty much encapsulates the area, massive trees sheltering an ominous fog that engulfs everything within, making it a hazardous labyrinth where getting lost means certain death.

There is still 2 more maps to do but them, along with the Ruined City are slated for the "expansion" so there will not be much, if any more news on them until much later LOLLLLL

[solile-art-museum]

La Primavera by Sandro Botticelli, c. 1482.

La Primavera, (in english the spring), is a tempera painting on poplar wood. Tempera paint is very natural as it is made out pigment with egg yolk, that is ground in water for use. The paint dries faster than most other paints.

This painting is definitely on the larger side. At 202 cm x 314 cm, this piece is about 6.4 square meters in size, which makes it around 16 times the size of the Mona Lisa.

Made as a companion piece to the Birth of Venus, Botticelli intended to commemorate the birth of the Florentine Renaissance, a new wave of life for the Italian state of Florence. The independence of Florence was a result of French soldiers under Charles VIII forcing Piero the Unfortunate to agree to a treaty after the death of his father, Lorenzo. It was followed by his exile brought by the people of Florence who longed for the end of the Medici rule.

The painting depicts many Roman deities. From left to right, Mercury; the Three Graces; Venus; Chloris; Flora; and Zephyr. Above them is Cupid, who shoots at the Three Graces.

There is so much to uncover about this piece and a story to be told that I cannot tell. Maybe one day I could explain it, but for now I suggest that you try and learn it yourself with your imagination.

To finish off this post, I should say that my inspiration for posting about this painting today was the television series, Hannibal. I think in developing a habit here.

[home-and-having-tea]

gimme the art history rant NEOWWW 🫵🫵 PASS IT OVER GIRL ‼️‼️

(Copy pasted it just for u babe <3)

As someone who's extremely interested in art history, let me point you towards the European Renaissance for a great example of how art mimics the "important topics" in a given society. Like you mentioned, art very frequently focuses on religious topics, especially in a historical context. When looking at art in the given example of the European Renaissance, you can see how whats "important" in society begins to shift.

Looking at a lot of works from Medieval Europe (the example I linked is a painting of the Virgin Mary and baby Jesus from the late 1290s), art is typically very "flat" looking, as well as typically (in European art at least) depicting Biblical stories and people. In this time period, art was focused on elevating the divine (putting the perspective solely on the religious subjects of the painting rather than working from the perspective of someone viewing the art), thus giving it that extremely two-dimensional, wonky look. The second source I linked discusses this lack of perspective in art further.

Then, in looking at art from the Renaissance period, one notes an increased amount of importance on the viewer's perspective (things that seem to be further in the background, an increased amount of realism) as well as a number of different secular topics that differed greatly from the pervious art that was solely figures from the Christian faith (though of course Biblical subjects were very much still present in art). In the Renaissance, what was "important" fell more on the self in society (a subject known as humanism, which is discussed in my first source; also one of the reasons for a greater emphasis on the viewer's perspective rather than the divine) as well as an increased interest in the "classics" (Greco-Roman art, thus Greco-Roman subjects were common). The example I linked is the famous work "The Birth of Venus" by Sandro Botticelli. In this painting, you can see an increased emphasis on the dimensions and proportions of the Grecco-Roman goddess Venus (also if you are interested, look up how the interest in human anatomy increased during the Renaissance) as well as, of course, not featuring a Biblical figure. In fact, the figure is nude! This would have been scandalous in Renaissance European art, but during the Renaissance, nude paintings were incredibly common due to the previously mentioned fascination with proportional human anatomy and realism.

Now I know this was a very long rant (like I mentioned, interested in art history) but what to take from this is: the art of a period will often follow what people deem to be important to them, whether that is the Bible, the self, or (as seen in modern day) a deconstruction of the "rules" of art.

Sources

Renaissance Humanism

Website | Mark Cartwright, | https://www.worldhistory.org/Renaissance_Humanism/ (opens in a new tab)

Sandro Botticelli | Biography, Paintings, Birth of Venus, Primavera, & Facts | Britannica

Website | , 2024 | https://www.britannica.com/biography/Sandro-Bottic... (opens in a new tab)

The History of Perspective

Website | Jonathan Janson, | https://www.essentialvermeer.com/technique/perspec... (opens in a new tab)

Duccio di Buoninsegna | Madonna and Child

Website | https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/43... (opens in a new tab)

[boudoirmood]

Venus and Mars by Sandro Botticelli

‘An Allegory’ made by one of his followers

In June 1847 the National gallery won an auction bid for several of Alexander Barkers Italian paintings. Two Botticellis were bought- or so they thought. Venus and Mars was purchased for £1,050 and An Allegory for £1,627 10s as it was thought to be a companion to Venus and Mars. An Allegory has since been stored in the basement of the gallery upon the realisation that it was an imitator of Botticelli. It’s hard to imagine how it’s stiff poses and lifeless faces could have been attributed to Botticelli and even how it was bought for more than the elegant Venus and Mars. - summery of text from ‘If the paintings could talk’ published by the National Gallery, London

[legendaryfugitives]

Happy Thanksgiving, everybody! Today, I'm thankful for completing Aphrodite Venus for Drawing 10. Yes, mythology's original mean girl. Remember the goddess who decided to play matchmaker and started a war that ended with a wooden horse?

For Aphrodite Venus, I took influence by mixing Disney's Hercules Aphrodite's design and Jessica Rabbit's design. The famous painting The Birth of Venus by Sandro Botticelli inspired her hair, and the painting of Queen Louise of Prussia by Jozef Maria Grassi for her crown. Another detail I added was a necklace from a famous Aphrodite fresco from Pompeii. I even made her dress's fluff to look like bubbly seafoam. Speaking of the sea, her famous magical girdle has a seashell representing that she was born from the sea. In this case, I gave her flowers in her hair, but I should add red anemones next time, too.

I really had fun making Aphrodite! I keep thinking of Aphrodite's song during God Games in Epic. This may not be her final design, but I'll keep her like this for now. Next, her ex-husband, Hephaestus.

Also, I'm now posting the challenge on the new Legendary Fugitives page. Please reblog to spread awareness that this blog exists now for others to notice if they want to follow if they meet the requirements of the blog's rules. Thank You!

[seahymns]

#           𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒉𝒚𝒎𝒏𝒔           said;           ❛ 𝗐𝗁𝖺𝗍𝖾𝗏𝖾𝗋. 𝗂 𝖽𝗂𝖽𝗇'𝗍 𝗍𝗁𝗂𝗇𝗄 𝗒𝗈𝗎'𝖽 𝖼𝖺𝗋𝖾 𝖺𝗇𝗒𝗐𝖺𝗒. ❜           ― 𝗀𝗋𝗎𝗆𝗉𝗒 𝗑 𝗌𝗎𝗇𝗌𝗁𝗂𝗇𝖾 𝗌𝖾𝗇𝗍𝖾𝗇𝖼𝖾 𝗌𝗍𝖺𝗋𝗍𝖾𝗋𝗌. / accepting.

❝   𝗐𝖾𝗅𝗅,  𝗂  𝖽𝗈.  𝗂  𝖽𝗈  𝖼𝖺𝗋𝖾  𝖺𝖻𝗈𝗎𝗍  𝗒𝗈𝗎𝗋  𝖿𝖾𝖾𝗅𝗂𝗇𝗀𝗌,  𝗋𝗈𝗌𝖾.  i  really  do.  but  it’s  not  polite  to  go  snooping  around  other  people’s  personal  belongings  and  then  get  upset  because you’ve  found  something  that  you  don’t  particularly  like.   ❞   a  heavy  frown  creases  his  features  in  permanent  annoyance,  his  sharp  tone  leaping  through  the  air  as  bright  blue  eyes  flicker  to  fire  a  pointed  look  in  rose’s  direction.  he  takes  a  few  steps  forward  and  closes  the  distance  between  them,  brows  furrowing  as  he  unceremoniously  plucks  his  sketchbook  from  her  delicate  hands.  his  nose  crinkles,  offended  and  hurt  in  equal  measure.  he  doesn’t  think  that  he’s  ever  given  her  a  reason  to  mistrust  him  —  he’s  so  hopelessly  devoted  to  her,  head  over  heels  in  love.  so,  why  does  she  continue  to  question  his  intentions?  

❝   and  even  though,  i  do  care  about  you,  i’m  tired  because  we’ve  had  this  conversation  before.  countless  times.  that’s  what’s  so  frustrating,  you  know?  ‘cause  it  feels  like  we’re  moving  in  circles.  again,  you  don’t  even  have  a  reason  to  be  jealous!  i’m  not  inviting  those  women  out  for  dinner  or  romantic  walks  in  the  park  for  god’s  sake.  besides,  artists  have  been  doing  this  for  centuries.  centuries,  rose!   ❞   he  scoffs,  clutching  the  sketchbook  to  his  chest  and  folding  his  arms  in  a  defensive  manner.  the  vein  on  the  side  of  his  neck  throbbing.   ❝   sandro botticelli,  gustav  klimt,  john  william  waterhouse,  jean-léon  gérome…  and  that’s  just  the  tip  of  the  iceberg!  they  all  had  their  muses,  but  i  highly  doubt  they  had  romantic  relationships  with  all  of  them.  and even if they did, so what? i'm not that kind of person and you should know it by now. what happened in paris, happened before i'd met you, and is now thousands of miles away! so, why  can’t  you  put  your  jealousy  aside  for  a  moment  and  just  be  supportive  of  my  work, @hearthymns?   ❞   a  long  pause,  followed  by  a  huff  and  a  grumble,   ❝   also,  if  you  want  to  see  my  stuff,  all  you  have  to  do  is  ask.  no  need  to  be  a  busybody.   ❞

[hzaidan]

‘The Souk’ was part of Shawa’s first solo exhibition in Gaza in 1965 entitled ‘Contrast and Contradictions’ – one year after her graduation from the Academy of Fine Art in Rome…

Please follow link for full post

DUYTS,CARL VON,STEENWYCK,Florentine,PASQUALE,CIARAMPONI,PIETERS,Murillo,Lorenzo di Credi,SOGLIANI,FLORIS,Sandro Botticelli,Fra Angelico,JAN DE,Frans,Battista Dossi,MARR,RELIGIOUSART, Zaidan, Mythology, Religion, biography, Paintings, Art, History, Ancient, footnotes, fine art,

01 Work, Middle East Artists, LAILA SHAWA's THE SOUK IN GAZA, with footnotes

[mcx7demonbros]

They seem to imply that hell follows Dante's description of the nine circle of hell. I don't know if it is Dante's version.

If so, than we will expect their version of Lucifer to be last to be revealed

I also want to bet that if they want to reveal them one at a time, than their Asmodeus would be next since he was named drop with Phenix's reveal.

And from the media I enjoy with the seven princes. Belphegor was always mention last and Lucifer is either mention early because they want to empathize how powerful he is.

thoughts?

Yeah, that’s Sandro Botticelli’s painting, based on Dante’s Inferno

A more colorful one from National Geographic

Yeah, I also think they’re gonna introduce Asmodeus next and Belphegor will be last.

What I think will happen, like they will have one of the demon characters asking MC “Do you know anything about Hell?”, and MC be like “Oh I have heard of this name…Lucifer?” Then all the demon cast freeze at the mention of the name. And one of them says “Don’t mention his name. Trust me, you don’t want the ‘god’ of all demons to settle his eyes on you.”

Yeah why I put Lucifer as god of all demons because I once read that Lucifer enjoy the idea of being like God, even after his fall. So he organized Hell into 9 circles and there will be 9 tiers of demons = 9 choirs of angels. And he’s the center of them all, like how angels surrounding God.

[artleaguemdcnorth]

Figure Drawing Class ( BOTH CLASSES) - Midterm instructions 3/6 & 7/23

We can trace the history of self portraits to the early Rennaissance. 

One of the earliest examples of self portraiture is seen in the work of Sandro Botticelli. The idea of spending time analising the self was unheard of. 

It was a tradition during the Rennaissace to include the wealthy patrons or important figures of the time in paintings, specially those who commisioned the work  such as the pope or bishops of the church. 

I imagine in that setting , Botticelli must have thought well, if I include the bishop or pope why can’t I be part of it as well. 

And thus we begin to see this very important practice of self portraiture.

In the painting below, by Raphael Sanzio, “The School of Athens” we see not only a portrait by Raphael, but also included ,many of his contemporaries such as D’Vinci, Michelangelo and many others. 

 I have included the link from Wikipedia so students can see the artists included in the painting.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_School_of_Athens#/media/File:%22The_School_of_Athens%22_by_Raffaello_Sanzio_da_Urbino.jpg

In that spirit, starting today after class, students will begin working on the Midterm assignment for Homework. 

You must use time everyday to work on this methodically and regularly. 

I will provide some class time to work on this assignment and will provide the time schedule below. 

Primarily , this will be a homework assignment and I will encourage students to work on it daily.

The Midterm will require for students to invest a total amount of working hours of 30 - 45 hrs. 

Understand that some of you might need more time than that. 

All work will be done using only graphite pencils on handmade Arches paper.

You will be working from a mirror, and You may use a photo for reference of the body (not the face) if you decide to do a full body portrait.  

Materials needed: 

Arches 22 x 30 , hot press, smooth surface 

(2 sheets for full body portrait. ) 

Graphite pencils 

Kneaded eraser

( I will allow some students to work with the Bristol paper, 18 x 24 . It will be on a one to one basis.)

Monday  3/6/23 & Tuesday 3/7/23

In class we will continue to work with figure. 

On Monday and Tuesday, students will work with graphite pencils on Bristol paper ( size 18 x 24 ). 

We will continue with tonal and value assignments and will be practicing using the pencil in class.

 In addition to the class time that I will provide , students will need to use HW time , everyday to work on this assignment .

Students will develop a concept around the idea of self portraiture.

You will use a mirror as reference for the portrait.

You must look at yourself in the mirror as this in turn shows in the portrait as a confrontation between the artist an the audience.

Do not have the eyes looking away, you must look at yourself in the mirror.

Doing so will engage the audience/ viewer.

Create a light source so that you can give drama to the portrait.

Keep soft values , nothing in real life is complete black or complete white but rather a series of values in between.

I will be sharing videos with tips on hair, eyes, mouth etc.

If you can not see your eye lashes then you do not need to include them.

This assignment should take anywhere from 30 -45 hrs of work and for some of you even more.

Shading slowly and carefully takes the longest.

Make sure that you add elements to the portrait that tells an additional story about the self.

Below you will find portraits from previous classes.

Notice how students in the past have incorporated details about themselves in these portraits.

Finally , As always post progress of your work by end of classtime.

Here is a quick analysis of the proportions of the face:

Below see student work over the years in my class:

A

B

C

D

E

F

F

CLASS RESUMES THIS WEEK ON MONDAY TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY:

We will continue to meet in person to work with the figure  weekly  except for the days noted below.

The following days will be used to work from home:

Thursday 3/9 , school is closed , there is no school on that day. 

ALL STUDENTS SHOULD Use THAT FREE time wisely to work on the self portrait.

EACH CLASS WILL WORK FROM HOME ON THOSE TWO DAYS. YOU DO NOT NEED TO COME TO CLASS ON THOSE DAYS.

M/W - Mon  3/13

               Weds 3/22

T/TH - Thurs 3/16

              Thurs 3/23

          ALL ASSIGNMENTS WILL BE COMPLETED BY SUNDAY, 5PM ON  3/25/23 AND POSTED TO YOUR TUMBLR BLOG WITH AN ARTIST STATEMENT AND A TITLE. 

YOU WILL BRING THE WORK TO CLASS ON MONDAY (3/27) AND TUESDAY (3/28)  for an in person (required attendance) critique. 

FINAL NOTE

Students who have had excessive absences need to watch their attendance as it will affect their grades. This class has an attendance policy. Some students have not been following that policy.

[domitiaa]

Was Simonetta Vespucci really Botticelli's muse?

I know my answer will shock millions of people, but I absolutely have to disagree.

Unfortunately we have no source that certifies that Simonetta Vespucci was portrayed by Sandro Botticelli. In the fifteenth century each artist had his own repertoire of female and male figures, for this reason Botticelli's women are ALL THE SAME and this tells us that they are absolutely not portraits.

The fact is that it is a rather old idea, largely outdated in critical literature for over a century, but with an origin, it is painful to say, noble. This is the doctoral thesis of one of the greatest art historians: Aby Warburg. Warburg was a true pioneer, almost single-handedly creating an entire new field of study. We owe to him, among other things, the first serious consideration of Neoplatonism for the understanding of the Florentine Renaissance: without Warburg no Panofsky, Gombrich etc. Now, dealing with the topic he obviously studied the literature of the time regarding Simonetta, presented as an ideal of perfect Beauty and embodiment of a Platonic ideal. And this is absolutely true. What he added, and we cannot blame him in an era of pioneering studies (we are in 1892!), was that that ideal Beauty could be found in the works of Botticelli and that therefore Primavera and Venus had to depict Simonetta. Warburg had no source to support it, but it seemed to complement his vision so well that he supported it anyway. Even then it was immediately criticized, because it was not methodologically sustainable, and it was precisely its best followers who excluded it in the studies of the following decades. Among art historians the idea has effectively been abandoned, at least due to lack of evidence, for decades and decades. But it survives by repetition in texts of another nature and above all in popular imagination (with the addition of other completely invented details, such as Botticelli in love wanting to be buried at Simonetta's feet etc.)

To conclude, the historicity of Simonetta's character is undoubted. Although sources about her are scarce, we know that she was celebrated by poets such as Angelo Poliziano and the Medici brothers themselves. But her true face remains a mystery!

[thiswaycomessomethingwicked]

I started following you long ago for the lotr works and your work about renaissance Venice that are all greats and already complimented you so sorry If I pop up totaly random again, but I'm amazed by your Marsilio Ficino posts, because I've been into 15th century Lureantian Florence for ages and although at some point I started to read everything else, now I'm returned to my old habits and is so so nice to see anyone interested on Ficino and his boyband the Neoplatonic Academy!

On an exclusive pairing term I'm interested in all thes possible relationships between anyone who lived in 15th century Florence, having been an arts management/culture economics major I'm more into painters/artists/sort off, in particular Sandro Botticelli and his relationship with the Medicis, with Poliziano, Leonardo, but I'm also a Lorenzo/Poliziano/Pico truther, etc. I have to say that with time my appreciation for the Medicis decresed and now I'm more interested in other rich families, patron dynasties and drama annexes including the Pazzi ofc, and with them anything else that went wrong with the 1478 conspiracy.

And Giovanni Cavalcanti/Marsilio Ficino, so many memories from uni years! (I'm Italian so this is our standard study program eheh). I just remember how MF was down so bad for his platonic bro :')

I wanted to write to you a better paragraphs but my brain at the moment is all "yay Pazzi ooooh murder wooo so much philosophy, now I'm going to read a 1919 essay on Jstor about a sodomy process occurred in 1501 of an obscure venetian totally random poet".

Have a nice week and good Ficinanti lectures! <3 (and with all your amazing, wondersful, show stopping lotr fic!) ;D

Ficino and his Boyband is a) a great band name in and of itself and b) accurate because he was forever haranguing them to play music with him since we all know beautiful music, alongside staring at hot men, is a prime way to help get closer to God and the Truth etc.

He even has Luigi Pulci for his Dastardly Band Rival

Lorenzo: can I like both of you?

Ficino: absolutely not. you have to choose. and it should be me.

Lorenzo: mmmmm no.

but yeah! I love when people pop up who are also into all things Ficinian! My brief past life in academia was all social history of early modern Europe - and while I did meddle with things like translation and state and social identity in colonial New Spain (what is now Mexico) and political/state identity in reformation England, my real love was always the Italian city states. Each and every one of them a fun and exciting hot mess. (And particularly queerness and the state in 15th and 16th c...there might be a thematic trend here)

I had an ex describe Florence from 1430-1510 as "a bunch of toddlers piled on a tricycle going downhill at top speed with no breaks" and I think that's accurate.

-

in particular Sandro Botticelli and his relationship with the Medicis, with Poliziano, Leonardo

I just have this image of Botticelli in the background yelling commentary at people who are like "that's nice Sandro". For some reason that's how my brain imagines both him and Poliziano.

Foreground: Ficino & Lorenzo arguing about church taxes or something, or Ficino & Pico arguing about Platonic Concepts of Love or whatever

Background: Poliziano and Botticelli sharing a pack of cigarettes making scathing soto vocce commentary on what is happening.

In the wings: Giovanni trying to convince his boyfriend not to do anything too stupid, or at the very least Don't Write It Down & Have It Printed, while Luigi Pulci is like "this is Marsilio we're talking about here. He loves writing things down and having them printed then becoming very annoyed when the Church arrives to knock-knock-knock on his parish door."

-

So I'm working on a Ficino book and I have this mental image in my head of him and Giovanni on a rooftop. It's like 2am. They're trying to get Ficino's father Who Is Now A Demon/Revenant For Reasons into a bag. They look over and see Leonardo da Vinci on the roof with them in a strange contraption.

They all stare at each other.

Giovanni: hey Leo.

Leonardo: hey Giovanni. Nice night for it Marsilio.

Marsilio: . . ...

Leonardo: is that...is that your father with glowing red eyes?

Marsilio: my father is dead, Leo. You know this.

Leonardo:

Leonardo: ok.

Leonardo:

Leonardo: have you told him that? he doesn't look dead.

Marsilio: go away, Leo.

Giovanni: are those.

Giovanni:

Giovanni: are those wings? like....are those wooden wings? are you....are you going to try and fly?

Leonardo: um. yes?

Giovanni:

Giovanni: ok.

Leonardo: this is a uh...this is a moment where we all pretend we didn't see each other isn't it? This is one of those moments, right?

Marsilio: yes. yes it is. Bye Leonardo.

On the street 9 year old Machiavelli escorting his drunk dad home from the tavern: NICE UNDEAD FATHER YOU HAVE THERE FICINO.

Marsilio: oh my god shut the fuck up

Anyway - please enjoy this scene that has been rotting in my head for a fortnight now.

-

I'm also a Lorenzo/Poliziano/Pico truther

always and forever I am with you as a Lorenzo/Poliziano/Pico truther. You don't bury two men in the same grave* unless there are Reasons!

(*you do, in fact, sometimes do that. But I'm ignoring this)

I remember when I was doing grad work at uni Pico and Poliziano were The Hot Thing to gossip about in the staff room. Like I had profs, after a bottle or two of wine, being like "well, Piero poisoned them because of politics, sure, but also mostly because they were probably shacked up with his father at some point and he felt weird about it"

As always, there is the Formal Historian Opinion and the I've Had Two Bottles of Wine and/or My Writer's Hat Is On Opinion. Two, sometimes radically different, things.

Anyway - I'm here for Poliziano/Lorenzo/Pico. At the very least it was Ploziano/Lorenzo then later Poliziano/Pico and maybe there was one really messy Carnival week when it was Pico/Lorenzo. Also maybe Pico/Marsilio but they never, ever talked about it ever again. Marsilio would have felt so ashamed and guilty and Pico would be like "it's kind of like fucking an older brother/uncle and I don't want to think about it" and Giovanni is like "Excuse Me I am your Soul Husband, Marsilio" and Marsilio is like "you have four daughters with your mistress - we have Complications in our relationship ok?"

god everyone was a WRECK

-

I just remember how MF was down so bad for his platonic bro :')

They were married! In their souls! I don't subscribe to it being a one-sided thing. I know some historians and writers have argued that it was one-sided with Ficino being desperate for Giovanni who didn't return the same level of feelings. But I don't really subscribe to that for various reasons.

Now, how their relationship manifested between them, in terms of physical and non-physical love, who knows.

Ficino entered the priesthood in his forties and I believe it was a natural progression for him in terms of his own philosophical journey. It was also a bit of a God Found Me moment. Like a real calling, versus "third son and I need an occupation" which was the case for obviously 95% of the clergy. We know Ficino took his role as priest very seriously and undertook all his duties with diligence and dedication. He kept accounts, did all the smaller administrative tasks that a lot of priests would shove off onto the shoulders of someone else. Nothing was too small or humble for Ficino's attention.

Given that aspect of who he was, and his seriousness with which he undertook his own philosophical teachings and practices, I presume he took all of his vows earnestly and seriously, not least the vow of celibacy. Or he would have tried very, very hard.

Obviously, celibacy in the Catholic Church has a long, complicated history and even in Ficino's lifetime there were still some mutterings about it. Though he was absolutely not one of the people going "hm, maybe priests should be able to have a wife or something."

Ficino's relationship with sex and physical desire was clearly complicated. Made worse, likely, by the fact that the object(s) of his desire were fellow men and we all know what that means in the year of our lord 1470-something.

That said, physical desire was very much intertwined with God, Beauty and Truth in his ladder of love/salvation. It's something he struggled to reconcile - the fact that he firmly believed perception and engagement with Beauty by the Mind, Soul and Spirit of a person is how we are to become closer to God and a person comes to find and know true Beauty through desire. It's one of the foundations over which he and Pico quarreled as it relates to the Platonic understanding of the ladder of love.

Pico felt Ficino's insistence that physical desire be part of salvation was too risky and would lead to sodomy/sinful things while Ficino couldn't perceive a world in which Beauty was understood or discovered through means that were entirely non-corporeal.

It's all a little pear shaped.

The mind tries to reach God through beauty, which is determined by desire.

For a man who was so very cerebral and spiritual - who bled into the mystic and ecstatic traditions of Catholic spirituality - he was at the same time incredibly earthy and corporeal. I suspect his being quite aware of his own body and its urges is what drove a lot of this push/pull that we see in his writing.

There are plenty of letters where he writes Giovanni in a manner that suggests they have certainly partaken of physical displays of love with one another. There's that one where he writes about how he and Giovanni don't need tongues and hands to show love to one another implying, of course, that they have done such things.

He wrote to Bernardo Bembo that Bernardo must have the eyes of a lynx for he perceived that Giovanni and Marsilio were soul-married (or whatever) long before they themselves were aware of it. Which makes me laugh because of what a perfect fucking fanfic set-up that is. Like what? Next you're telling me, Marsilio, that you and Giovanni were travelling once and Oh No There Was Only Bed**.

Bernardo: GET A ROOM.

Marsilio: ?????

Giovanni: ?????

Bernardo: I swear to God and the good mother Mary you two are gagging for each other and need to just fuck about it or something.

Poliziano, in the background: I've been saying that for yeeeaaaars.

(**never mind that everyone shared beds back then so it would have been very normal and they just would have been like "why would there be more than one bed?? you can fit so many people in one bed and we all have minimal furniture. It's 1473.")

-

now I'm going to read a 1919 essay on Jstor about a sodomy process occurred in 1501 of an obscure venetian totally random poet

oh my god, Venetian sodomy stories break my heart because Venice went so hard on punishment in a way Florence just...didn't.

This is what happens when you put a city on a lagoon! It makes everyone paranoid that if they offend God he will sink them under the waves.

Granted, it was quite something in the 17th century when the Ten ordered a review of the Venetian merchant fleet, have heard that there was Much Sodomy & Other Vile Things Occurring and found that yeah, everyone has been fucking each other on boats for centuries now.

And the Ten were like: :O whaaaat and God didn't strike us down??????

Pokemon meme: The Ten Hurt Themselves in Their Confusion.

-

I remember reading one account of a man (I want to say he was a cittadini merchant) who began an affair with his rower. It was a long term thing, the rower even married a (probably illegitimate) niece or something of the merchant. They were very much clearly Lifers.

Anyway - got found out and the two were rounded up and the cittadini guy told his rower, 'Look, just say I forced you. Say it was unwilling on your part and I was making you do it' etc. because he figured as a member of the cittadini class he had a better chance of getting off the hook than his lover who was as a no one.

His lover was reluctant to do that but agreed to the rouse - however, the Ten were on a serious crackdown that year and hauled him in for torture anyway. Despite his being a "victim" and therefore, traditionally, not seen as being as much to "blame" for the sinful acts etc.

During the torture, the rower ended up confirming that no, it was not forced. Yes, he was very much into it. The big kicker was that one of them ended up admitting that they switched "roles" so both topped and both bottomed, which was obviously a big deal in terms of perception of masculinity and culpability in these cases.

Sadly, they both ended up on the pyre and were burned to death between the pillars of the Lion of San Marco and Poseidon in the palazzo di San Marco.

(nb: the details are sketched out loosely here, it's been a while since I read that case so I could be misremembering exactly how things played out)

-

Every time I see pics of tourists between those pillars I'm like, "Do you know how many men were burned to death for sodomy right where you're standing? And how many members of government were hanged for treason (or "treason") and their bodies left so their colleagues got to walk by them on their way into work? I bet there's a ghost in your picture."

It's a bit of a mood killer for tourists, apparently.

annnnyway. Venice and sodomy laws! Heartbreaking!

-

Despite that, the city did have a thriving sodomy scene which is hilarious. Though, as the famous saying went, It takes only seven days for the sun to set on a Venetian law and they must recreate it.

Love that bit in Sanudo's diary where he's like: The Ten, in their wisdom, issued another promulgation reminding everyone that sodomy is illegal and it was read aloud in the Rialto and everyone in the market laughed.

--

ok, my turn to apologize for making this WAY too long. I just - I have the worms they are in my brain and they are going !!!!!!!! about all things relating to Ficino and also 15th and 16th century Venice.

<3 <3 <3 <3

[emotional-moss]

melody + parchment for the ask game!!

thank you for the ask !!

melody; favorite artists?

i’m just gonna say all forms of art here - i really like sandro botticelli very yummy art very good . also kurtis conner because his videos are art to me . as for musicians it changes but currently the crane wives, hozier, the oh hellos, the entire soundtracks of hadestown, dear evan hansen, and nerdy prudes must die

parchment; favorite book?

sshshiiiiititttt this is a hard one ummmm … i’m naming more than one whatever . the graces by laure eve, hell followed with us by andrew joseph white, stone butch blues by leslie feinberg, drag king dreams by leslie feinberg, and eeurhmmmm probably some other i’m missing OH YEAH THE MAGNUS CHASE SERIES and yesh

[kilong61]

Redefining Venus: From Classical Beauty to Modern Whimsy 🎨

Introduction: Dive with me into an ocean of art where iconic figures undergo beautiful transformations. What if Venus, our beloved goddess of love and beauty, wasn't on a seashell but amidst a sea of rubber ducks? 🦆

The Traditional Venus: Think of Sandro Botticelli's "The Birth of Venus". Venus, in all her ethereal grace, stands on a seashell, symbolizing classical myth and art.

Venus in Today's World: Fast forward to today. Imagine Venus surrounded by a sea of bobbing, colorful rubber ducks. These ducks, our modern bath-time companions, add a layer of humor, contrasting her serene elegance.

Message Behind The Imagery: This might make you chuckle, but it speaks volumes. Ancient beauty and modern whimsy, together in harmony. The ordinary ducks don't diminish Venus' grandeur. They accentuate her relevance in our ever-evolving world.

Conclusion: Art changes, just like us. By mixing Venus and rubber ducks, we challenge norms and invite you to see the world with both reverence and a playful spirit.

Tags: #ArtEvolution #VenusReimagined #ModernMeetsClassical #RubberDuckArt #WhimsicalThoughts

Enjoyed this blend of the old and the new? Give a follow for more artistic journeys into whimsy and wonder. Your support fuels my imagination! 🎨🌟🦆