Death of Botticelli in Florence

1510

Sandro Botticelli, once the darling of the Medici and painter of the Birth of Venus, died in obscurity and poverty. In his final years, haunted by Savonarola's sermons, he had burned some of his own pagan canvases. Florence buried its greatest decorator almost without ceremony. His rediscovery by the Pre-Raphaelites transformed him from a forgotten decorator into one of Western culture's most beloved artists.