Botticelli Exhibition Lecture-Peacock

Lecture and Slides: BOTTICELLI DRAWINGS Exhibition
Legion of Honor Museum, San Francisco
December 6, 2023
Peacock Theatre, Rossmoor
Time: 1:00 pm

This lecture given by docent, Gretchen Turner, from the Legion of honor Museum will introduce the drawings of the Italian early Renaissance painter Sandro Botticelli (c. 1445-1510). The exhibition at the museum begins November 18- February 11, 2023.
In 5th century Italy there occurred a revolution in drawing, largely attributable to the great availability of paper. Drawings could now be made in great numbers to work out designs for works of art. Those drawings could be kept for future reference or for recording what the workshop had produced. Apprentices and masters alike drew from the live model to work out realistic poses for human figures.
In this exhibition the curator Furio Rinaldi presents several drawings as by the hand of Botticelli himself for the first time. Other drawings by Fra Filippo Lippi, Botticelli’s first master, are included to show early influences on Botticelli. Other drawings by his rivals and friends show how all artists in 15th century Florence were in search of an ideal beauty.
The lecturer will discuss some of the paintings for which the drawings were used as preparation. The exhibition itself will feature 47 drawings of various levels of finish and 13 paintings. This is the first exhibition to focus on drawings. San Francisco California Palace of the Legion of Honor is the only venue, due to the fragility of these 500 years old works on paper.