How Botticelli revolutionised portraiture | National Gallery

She loves what she is doing! Great explanation!

I love your concise explanation on his portraits. I love how he played with shadow and colors

Thank you so much for producing these informative ten-minute presentations. I live in the US, and am not often able to travel to London to visit the Gallery. It is one of my favorite places on the planet, so it is great to be able to make Internet visits and view these masterpieces with the commentary of world-class curators.

Brilliant. Thank you. I'll be in London in November of 2024. I hope to attend a Wednesday Lecture.

For the second time I have listened to all the comments. I do remember when studying the different formats in portraiture. This painting was one of my favorites. Face on was very rare at that time, and Boticelli got the viewers absorbed in this magnificent portrait of youth.

Such a wondrous video. And it can't escape noting that the young female curator looks eerily like the young man in the Botticelli portrait. Maybe the portrait figure has escaped time itself to tell us about the secrets he keeps within this frame.

He is not young! Look: he has large folds on his cheeks, folds on the sides of his mouth are starting to form, there is a starting fold between his eyebrows, there are first lines under inner eye corner. It seems to me that this man is at least 25, may be 30. Boticelly had probably flattered him by making his skin to look fair and very fresh, possibly by making wrinkles not as pronounced, but no young man (15-21 years old) from a noble family looks like that.

But anyway thank you so much for showing it to us and making an interpretation and bringing art closer to all people who has internet access. I absolutely support and appreciate your work.

Masterful presentation of a masterpiece - I cannot say whether this gaze is thoughtful, aspiring, tender or sad. It seems as if the subject's left eye is looking downwards and the left part of the face with the shadow reflects a contemplating, introvert person, whereas the right eye looks straight ahead and together with the right, shadow-free part of the face reflects the more confident and extrovert side of the person's character. I think the captivating effect of this portrait comes from this individual complexity rather than the generic features of beauty.

Thank you for this very interesting and informative talk!

That “earlier Botticelli of Giuliano Medici” does not look like a Botticelli to my untrained eye! So angular and awkward!

It doesn’t seem right to say that Botticelli (1445-1510) made many more portraits than any of his Florentine contemporaries. Domenico Ghirlandaio (1448-1494), for instance, was a great portrait painter. Just consider how many of them can be seen in his frescoes at Santa Maria Novella. Benozzo Gozzoli (1420 or 1424-1497) is another example. Of course these portraits were included in larger works, but they were still portraits and very good ones. Outside of Florence, but still in Italy, Antonello da Messina (1430-1479) should be mentioned. Like Botticelli, he was influenced by the Flemish artists of his time.

I would love to see this portrait cleaned of the old varnish. I know the young man's skin tones are beautiful underneath.

When I hear Boticelli, I think of spring, of rhe birth of venus. Not of the paintings she mentioned

Toward the end, as she described the subtle distortions of perspective, I noticed that, while the head is slightly turned to the sitter's left, it's the left side of the nose that is, nevertheless, more visible. I like this talk!

Other painters: paint portraits by different angles
Botticelli: invents headshot

I think the point of the captivating distortions which pique our interest is really important. So much portraiture today (and in later periods) is done with the photographic perspective which prioritizes classical ideals of reason, proportion, and "accuracy" from first principles. This is a portrait painted in the human flow of attention. We don't ever stare at one angle for long. We see the characteristic expressions and multiple angles all at once. It's captivating because we see it how we would see him if we looked at him with our own eyes.

These videos are all so good! Do you have any paintings from Indian artists in your gallery? I would love to learn more about them as well

I love this series.

Wonderful,tutor and lecture. Thank you

As an Italian I can say her pronunciation is AMAZING! Lovely to hear

Very well described.

Very well prepared and delivered. The calmness of the voice seemed like an hour presentation and yet so much information was covered in just 10 minutes👍🤩💯

Of all the great artists throughout history, I must say that Botticelli is my least favorite and in fact I find his portraits especially uninteresting. (Sure, people will say "so what?", but let me add that I have some actual art credentials and have also studied with some of the top art historians at top universities, and do have artworks in a number of museums.) To me, Botticelli's contributions are in areas other than portraiture and facial physiognomy.

Amazing presentation

Thank you: such a charming and instructive presentation. So much fascinating information effortlessly conveyed in 10 minutes.

Thanks very much 🙋‍♀️❤

lovely,the painting and the discourse. thank-you.

I'm always pleased when art experts pronounce the Italian names correctly. Some pronounce 'Michelangelo' as 'Michael Angelo' etc., which makes me cringe. So bravo to Laura Llewellyn who pronounces the name correctly. Her perfect pronunciation makes me think that she speaks the Italian language.

The young man has the expression of an adolescent who wants to exude confidence but still very insecure inside. The same look of a college athlete whose name is being called from the roster.

Thank you.

Love the color palette extraction! He reminds me of a young Harry Styles, but with more elegance and less nervous energy. The tip about Botticelli painting the facial features from different angles was fascinating, and definitely helps explain why the sitter seems like he’s caught in motion, or shifting in his seat, rather than frozen in time. The softness of the shadows play to that effect as well.

Slightly off center gives the three quarter turn feel without actually doing it. A little more open space on one side than the other is very effective. Smack dab in the middle doesn't give the same feeling. A little asymmetry does wonders.

What is Tom Scott doing in a Renaissance painting? The likeness is uncanny.

I have been in love with this portrait since I was a child. The beauty of the young man's features is extraordinary. There is simplicity, softness and elegance. He is constantly looking into your eyes and you feel the need to do the same because of his expressiveness. In my opinion, this is one of the greatest portraits in the History of Art. A masterpiece.

I enjoyed this talk very much. What might be the subject of another talk is analysis of the painting techniques (brush strokes) , the materials chosen. I wonder about the degree of modelling and the details of the forehead tonality of light/darkness.

Fascinating film, thank you

Thank you for sharing the beauty and the knowledge.

Brilliantly explained.

Thank you ❤️

Yes , thanks for 10min format it is very comfortable and easy not to remember where you have stopped. Thank you for your work!✨🌻🌞❤️

Why are these videos all so desaturated? IT'S A PAINTING!

What I like about Botticelli, is that, at his height, he was something of a transitional figure - Florentine art is becoming 'modern' - some of these portraits have enough verisimilitude that they could be contemporary. Just came back from DC National Gallery where they have a similar (same sitter?) 'youth' portrait displayed - in a brown tunic and red cap, but a more expressive pose . Contrast this to, say Bellini's efforts. Finally, we get to see non-idealized people, not just Christian icons or persons engaged in devotion rituals. And thankfully pre-mannerist. Oh yes: nicely vague allusion to perhaps why Botticelli was inspired to pain these particular portraits - though we'll never know.

Excellent synopsis. Thank you.

fantastic video

Thanks very much; a beautiful painting and a great story - how can you beat that! Cheers from Canada.

Very interesting information. Incredibly beautiful painting. Thanks!

The frame boxes in the portrait hiding teenager’s energy

Thank you, it would be interesting to know how these paintings was preserved and passed on in the last 500 years and we could see it.

Well done, and brings the portrait and painter to life.