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In exclusive preview at the Botticelli cinema and in Florence. The Birth of Beauty. A docufilm which, through the masterpieces of the Renaissance master, presents a journey to discover the inventor of a model of beauty capable of being transmitted over the centuries.
Through the places of the great “open-air museum” that is Florence, an itinerary that traces the charm of Botticelli and his way of seeing and interpreting beauty. Botticelli and Florence. The Birth of Beauty is a story that comes exclusively to the cinema.
The model of beauty of the Renaissance master has exceeded the limits of time and has inspired artists such as Terry Gilliam, Andy Warhol, David LaChapelle, Jeff Koons up to Lady Gaga. Works reread and reinvented and therefore always remained in the common imagination. A charm that makes his masterpieces an attraction for everyone.
Florence seen by Botticelli
The notoriety that accompanies Sandro Botticelli is immense. Yet, as the note that tells some exclusive details of the docufilm dedicated to the Master suggests, for more than three hundred years after his death, the Florentine painter was almost completely forgotten. The rediscovery of his incredible art dates back to the 19th century with Ruskin and the Pre-Raphaelites. But today it is not difficult to affirm that Alessandro di Mariano di Vanni Filipepi, known as Botticelli (Florence 1445 c.-1510), is perhaps the one who: “More than anyone knew how to steal the spirit of his time”. To tell Botticelli and Florence. The Birth of Beauty its history, its art and the rediscovery of the value of its creations. The narrator of the documentary is entrusted to Jasmine Trinca. The docufilm is produced by Sky, Ballandi and Nexo Digital under the patronage of the Municipality of Florence. Conceived and written by Francesca Priori and directed by Marco Pianigiani, will only arrive in theaters on November 28, 29 and 30.
As the note suggests again: “To Botticelli and to Florence. The Birth of Beauty Dreamlike reconstructions, evocative images of the city and filming of extraordinary works alternate with the voices of eminent experts, academics and international art historians. Which tell of the splendor and contradictions of Lorenzo de’ Medici’s Florence, discovering one of the emblematic artists of the Italian Renaissance”. The years of Lorenzo the Magnificent are those in which the relationship between art and power manifests itself. Paintings, frescoes, palaces, chapels and churches confirm this. In short, at the end of the 15th century, Florence could be compared to New York in the 1980s; economic and cultural expansion, commerce and trade.
Spring and the Birth of Venus
With Botticelli and Florence. The Birth of Beauty will retrace this period, but through the exclusive gaze of the great Master. Important reflections that undoubtedly derive from what are considered two of Botticelli’s most famous works: the Primavera (1478-82) and the Birth of Venus (1483-85). “Grace and harmony germinate in spring, as much as the hundreds of different flowers masterfully depicted by the master”. Expression of the Neoplatonic philosophy in vogue in the years of Lorenzo the Magnificent.
Moreover, with the Renaissance, we return to the ancient gods and Botticelli gives new life to the myths, with works that go down in history under the name of “botticellian mythologies”. Among these undoubtedly belong: Pallas and the Centaur (c. 1482) and Venus and Mars (c. 1483). Botticelli brings the Greek goddesses to the heart of 15th century Florence and the constant search for beauty. The Birth of Venus (1483-1485) is, in this sense, a sort of “manifesto” of this aspiration. Harmonious curves with elongated figures, with beautiful and ethereal faces destined to impose themselves as a canon of beauty over the centuries and beyond all fashion.
The rediscovery of the Master
After the death of Lorenzo the Magnificent, the Florentine crowds are inflamed by Girolamo Savonarola and soon the art also adapts to the tastes of the Dominican friar. Botticelli was also upset by this change and around this time he created other masterpieces such as the Mystical Nativity (1501) and the Lamentation over the Dead Christ (1495-1500). Here the sinuosity of the forms gives way to broken lines and violent chromatic contrasts. After his death, however, the artist was destined for a period of oblivion which would dissolve when the poet and painter Dante Gabriel Rossetti bought Portrait of Smeralda Bandinelli (1472) for a few pounds, drawing inspiration from some of his most recent works. more fascinating. “It is only the beginning – as the note explains – of an authentic Botticelli-mania, which from the 19th century continues until today touching photography, fashion, the world of entertainment”. The docufilm dedicated to Botticelli, included in the La Grande Arte al Cinema project, was created to tell all this and much more.
Different experts will ask questions and give answers inspired by the marvelous works of Botticelli. Important contributions from Alessandro Cecchi, director of the Casa Buonarroti museum in Florence and Ana Debenedetti, curator of the drawings and paintings section of the Victoria & Albert Museum in London. Next, Franco Cardini, professor of medieval history at the University of Florence and Jonathan Nelson, professor of art history at Syracuse University in Florence. Among the experts, Marco Ciatti, director of the Opificio delle Pietre Dure in Florence; Kate Bryan, art historian and Chiara Cappelletto, associate professor of aesthetics in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Milan. And finally, Edward Buchanan, creative director of Sansovino 6.