Birth of Venus > Sandro Botticelli

Born in Florence, Alessandro Botticelli was originally trained as a goldsmith and later served an apprenticeship under the painter Fra Fillipo Lippi. Lippi was the most important influence on Botticelli's unique and innovative Renaissance art. His eye for detail and sense of geometry created an oeuvre that was highly decorative and compositionally innovative. Later in his life, Botticelli came under the influence of a priest and was commissioned to create religious, devotional and mythological pictures. His famous Birth of Venus is an example of his mythological commissioning. Botticelli died in obscurity. He was rediscovered in the second half of the 19th century when the Pre-Raphaelites admired his delicate line work and imitated his elongated figures. He had a major influence on Art Nouveau.