Britannica
Sources used in this answer
Which literary work inspired The Story of Nastagio degli Onesti by Sandro Botticelli?
Created from Britannica articles
using AI.
AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
Sandro Botticelli
Birth of Venus, tempera on canvas by Sandro Botticelli, c. 1485; in the Uffizi Gallery, Florence.
The series of four panels titled The Story of Nastagio degli Onesti by Sandro Botticelli was inspired by a tale from the Decameron, a masterpiece of Italian literature written by Giovanni Boccaccio.1
Commissioned in 1483 for the marriage of Giannozzo Pucci, these paintings reflect the Renaissance interest in courtly love and literature. The Decameron itself is a collection of 100 stories framed by the narrative of ten young people fleeing the plague in Florence, and it served as a significant source of inspiration for artists and writers throughout the Renaissance.12