The Birth of Venus even surpassing him. Giving added support to this interpretation of Botticelli as a born-again Apelles is the fact that that very claim was voiced in 1488 by Ugolino Verino in a poem entitled "On Giving Praise to the History of Florence." While Botticelli might well have been celebrated as a revivified Apelles, his "Birth of Venus" also testified to the special nature of Florence's chief citizen, Lorenzo de' Medici. Although it now seems that the painting was executed for another member of the Medici family, it likely was intended to celebrate and flatter its head, Lorenzo de' Medici. Tradition associates
Madonna del Padiglione (Botticelli) Madonna del Padiglione (Botticelli) The Madonna and Child with Three Angels (also known as "Madonna del Padiglione") is a painting by the Italian Renaissance master Sandro Botticelli, executed in 1493. It is housed in the Pinacoteca Ambrosiana of Milan. The Virgin Mary is portrayed holding a book to her breast and gesturing to the Child, the latter being supported by an angel. The Italian name ("padiglione" meaning "pavilion") derives from the rich baldachin over the scene. There is an open book on a small prie-dieu between the Virgin and Child. Angels are pulling back the drapery of the pavilion. Together,