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How did Sandro Botticelliās style change in the 1490s?
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Sandro Botticelli
Birth of Venus, tempera on canvas by Sandro Botticelli, c. 1485; in the Uffizi Gallery, Florence.
Following the early 1490s, Sandro Botticelliās artistic style underwent a marked transformation, shifting away from the idealizing naturalism that characterized his work in the 1480s.1
Key changes in his late style included:
- Scale and Proportion: His paintings became smaller in scale, and his figures grew slender to the point of idiosyncrasy.1
- Emotional Intensity: Botticelli began to accentuate the gestures and expressions of his subjects, focusing on a passionate urgency of action.1
- Spiritual Focus: This evolution is often attributed to his involvement with the reformist preacher Girolamo Savonarola. The resulting works, such as the Mystic Nativity, reflect the spiritual tensions of the era and a move toward highly personal, emotionally charged statements that abandoned traditional Renaissance spatial and proportional norms.12
This shift represented a mysterious retreat from his earlier elegance, favoring instead a style that prioritized spiritual and narrative urgency over classical harmony.12