FRANCESCO BOTTICINI

Italian, 1446 – 1497

Portrait of a Young Man, 15th Century

Oil on panel
18.5 x 12 .5 in.

Collection of The Bass
Gift of John and Johanna Bass
1963.024

Francesco di Giovanni Botticini was an Early Renaissance painter born in Florence in 1446. His father was an artisan painter, which his connections to the art world led to the opportunity for Francesco to work as Neri di Bicci’s assistant in his prosperous workshop when he was only thirteen years old. Botticini also studied under Cosimo Rosselli, who was one of Bicci’s pupils, as well as with the influential Andrea del Verrocchio. Although Botticini’s works were overshadowed by his contemporaries, he remained an active painter until his death.

Botticini’s eclectic and highly decorative style reflects a wide variety of influences, from Verrocchio to the famous Florentine painters Fra Filippo Lippi and Sandro Botticelli. His ability to combine elements from the art of his day is the reason for which some of his works have been incorrectly attributed in the past. One of those works, The Three Archangels with Tobias of 1470, now in the Uffizi Gallery, was once believed to be Verrocchio’s. By 1469 Botticini was operating his own workshop and became well known for his decorative works, some of which can be seen in the cloistered church of Empoli in Tuscany. At the time of his death, Botticini was in the process of working on the monumental Tabernacle of the Sacrament for the collegiate church of Empoli. His son, Raffaello Botticini, was commissioned to finish his father’s work.