  Sandro Botticelli is a master painter during the early period of Renaissance. He was born in Florence, son of a goldsmith who wanted him to take over the family business. But the young Sandro had no interest in being a goldsmith. He made a great effort to convince his father that he wanted to study painting and was sent to be apprentice to the well known painter Fra Filippo Lippi.
  From Lippi, Botticelli learned the principles of perspective, as well as a delicately detailed treatment of the human figure. He developed his own style of tender expressions in his subjects' face and their gestures. He also used decorative details in his works. He soon established an independent reputation and found patronage from the Medici family. Their funds made it possible for him to pursue his vision of ideal beauty and interest in the pagan culture.
  As did all the artists of his time, Botticelli created numerous paintings around Judeo-Christian themes. But at the same time, his groundbreaking work involved a reinterpretation of classical myth and iconography. In works like Pallas and the Centaur and Venus and Mars, he used figures from Greek myth to create allegories about virtue and the passions. Botticelli's ideal woman, who reappears in his famous works Primavera and The Birth of Venus, combines the physicality of pagan art with Christian concepts of chastity and purity. Botticelli's focus on women established a new vision of beauty for goddesses and Madonnas alike, one that would continue well into the High Renaissance period.
  At the height of his career, Botticelli painted portraits of Italian nobility. He was even invited to Rome to take part in the painting of the Sinstine Chapel. His later years, however, seemed to be a hard time for him. As times changed in Florence, a group of new stars including Da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Raphael emerged on the Florentine art scene. Botticelli found himself out of touch with the progress of Renaissance. The great master died in 1510, poor and far from glory. But his works is now thought to be among the most masterful of his time.