Botticelli, Savonarola, and the Politics of Late Quattrocento Florence

Findings and Conclusion

Botticelli Pieces: 

These analyses have demonstrated the increasing influence of the anti-Medicean political revolt on later artworks of Sandro Botticelli. He has long been considered a learned interpreter of the new humanism of the Neoplatonic academy and a painter of Greco-Roman mythological and Christian subject matters. However, as has been shown, his works were equally influenced by contemporary tensions between the Medici’s struggle to maintain power and the emergence of a true Florentine Republic. During the late Quattrocento, Florence became a public theatre for violent political, religious, and social conflict; all of which are reflected through Botticelli’s artworks. Not only did Botticelli reintroduce mythological figures en-masse into Renaissance art, but he also reinterpreted them in light of contemporary society. Sam Dresden aptly writes that “[t]he Renaissance artist recognized and appreciated the peculiar nature of ancient culture, saw each work as a complete entity to be imitated, and more, incorporated it into his own time and in accordance with his own world of ideas.”[1] Botticelli reimagined classical motifs and stories in the context of late fifteenth century Florence. His use of allegory, which can be defined as a hidden moral or, in this case, political meaning, aligns the Greco-Roman imagery with the flourishing Renaissance. This technique enables artists, poets, authors, and rhetoricians alike to unveil truths from a safe and calculated distance.

Savonarola Sermons:

Fra Girolamo Savonarola’s sermons were public spectacles. In a city of approximately 60,000 people, contemporary sources record his audiences containing as many as 13,000 or 14,000.[1] Therefore, it would not have taken long for his veiled messages to disseminate throughout the streets. Moreover, they were performative in his carefully selected language and theatrical in his charismatic and enthusiastic delivery. The employment of allegory compelled listeners to engage with his sermons, to take sides in the damnation-salvation dichotomy he was presenting, and to act against those who had led them astray. Savonarola’s sermons are full of allusion and symbolism, however, they increasingly become more tangible. He is careful never to name the Medici, but it is evident they are the subject of his concern for the well-being of Florence. Similarly to Botticelli using Greco-Roman imagery to represent the loss of Medici influence, Savonarola uses the scripture to illustrate the need for a new government. Turning to something his religious audiences would have some familiarity with makes his message more pressing. Therefore, it is more powerful and easily received.

Conclusion: 

The late Quattrocento saw the end of the Medici stronghold which had been in place for decades. Florence was placed under attack when the Pazzi Conspiracy (1478) sought to free the city of its protectors. Anti-Medicean conspirators rebelled to bring their vision for Florence to fruition: a Florence no longer under Medici control. Lorenzo de’ Medici survived the assassination attempt on his life and was able to maintain his authority despite threats of excommunication and interdict from Pope Sixtus IV. However, Lorenzo’s death in 1492 plunged the city into uncertainty as his successor was an unfit ruler. The city was once again under threat as the French King planned to march into the Florentine territory. The citizens’ spiritual leader, Fra Girolamo Savonarola, emerged as their political advisor. Saving them from foreign invasion, he revealed his divine vision for reform that would position Florence as the religious leader of Italy. In this essay, I examined how four works from Botticelli’s later period may be read in the context of violence, public unrest, and political uncertainty. More than recreations of works from Antiquity, these works may be read as visual responses to the changing fortunes of the Medici in Florence. Additionally, Savonarola’s sermons highlight his political objective for the evolving Florentine government. His rhetoric illustrates the intimacy between religion and politics in the Renaissance and how he was able to use the former to speak to the latter. Furthermore, these artistic and performative works documented the end of the Medici rule and the materialization of the true Florentine Republic.