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Volume of the German translation of Vasari's Lives of the Artists, presenting the lives of Sandro Botticelli, Filippino Lippi, Cosimo Rosselli and Alesso Baldovinetti, translated by Victoria Lorini, with annotations to Botticelli's Life by Dombrovsky.

Savonarola was a Dominican friar who took over Florence after the death of Lorenzo de' Medici, who died in 1492, and Savonarola took power in 1494 and effectively re-established the Republic. (Note: In 1494, King Charles VIII of France invaded Florence, the ruling Medici family was overthrown, and Savonarola became the new spiritual and secular leader of Florence. He began to enact various rules and regulations into laws. His most famous political achievement was the lighting of the "Bois des Vanities" in Piazza della Signoria in Florence in 1497. In his later years, Botticelli was addicted to Savonarola's sermons and personally threw many of his late works into the fire, but Savonarola's severity plunged Florence, which was mainly based on business, into poverty. On May 4, 1497, a group of people made trouble while Savonarola was preaching, and it soon evolved into a civil uprising. On May 23, 1498, he and two other monks were burned at the stake. Shortly after his death, the Medici family came to power again, overthrew the Republic, and proclaimed themselves Grand Duke of Tuscany).

Botticelli, Giuliano de' Medici, 1478

But for Vasari, this must have been a terrible period, as the Medici family lost power, so he tried to reflect the changes from Lorenzo's "Glorious Age" to Savonarola's "Dark Age" and then the Medici's re-emergence through Botticelli. However, there is no clear division between the Medici period and the Savonarola period in art.

Botticelli, The Defamation of Apelles, circa 1494–1495, Uffizi Gallery

It is often believed that Savonarola was a religious fanatic who destroyed many works of art because they were not pure enough or too liberal. However, this was not true. Historians now tell us that the so-called Bonfire of the Vanities did not involve paintings or sculptures, but mainly targeted household items such as mirrors and cosmetics, not paintings.

Botticelli, "Adoration of the Magi", c. 1475, Uffizi Gallery. The leftmost one is usually considered to be a self-portrait of Botticelli.

Let's go back to Vasari's understanding of Botticelli. In fact, Vasari was not that harsh on Botticelli. He even saw the forward-looking characteristics in Botticelli's works. For example, Vasari gave a very appropriate and profound description of the altarpiece "The Adoration of the Kings" that was exhibited in Shanghai. He saw the artistic value of this painting and those qualities that foreshadowed the future. This is an outstanding work of art with some characteristics of the "High Renaissance". But at the same time, he did not see this artist as a bridge between the early Renaissance and the High Renaissance. I think, and this is part of my research, that Botticelli actually paved the way for the High Renaissance. For example, Raphael has many similarities with Botticelli, which was completely ignored by Vasari. He was reluctant to see this because he needed Botticelli's good works to be created before Savonarola's "Dark Period". In fact, this period was not so dark, but it must have been a bad period for writers for the Medici family.

Botticelli, Madonna and Saints (Saint Barnabas Altarpiece), 1487/1488, Uffizi Gallery

Raphael, Madonna of the Baldachin, c. 1507/1508, Uffizi Gallery

Regarding "Botticelli is partially misunderstood", I think that Botticelli is an artist who is known more than he is understood, which is mainly reflected in his achievements in religious paintings, which have not been paid enough attention by art historians. Thousands of people stand in front of "Spring" and "The Birth of Venus" in the Uffizi Gallery every day, and perhaps some people will take a look at "Pallas and the Centaur", which was also exhibited in Shanghai. At the same time, almost no one pays attention to his altarpieces, but in fact, he is famous for his religious works. For example, in 1481 Lorenzo Medici sent him to Rome to decorate the walls of the Sistine Chapel with other Florentine painters.

Botticelli, Pallas and the Centaur, circa 1482/1483, Uffizi Gallery

Most of the frescoes that Botticelli and his assistants painted for the Sistine Chapel were covered by Michelangelo, and only some of them are visible, such as "Moses in His Youth"

But because religious paintings don't look that modern. There are no nudes in the paintings (later people thought that the more nudes an artist painted, the more modern he was), but this was not the way of thinking in the Renaissance. The High Renaissance was all about composition, how each part of the artwork connected to each other to form a whole. So it wasn't about nudity or mythology, it was about composition and artistic value. So I think people should pay more attention to Botticelli's other works. There is a big exhibition room in the Uffizi Gallery with about 17 paintings by Botticelli, but people only look at two of them. Of course, these two are very modern, but I think his greater achievement is in his religious paintings, because that's where people can see his progress, because being commissioned to create an altarpiece is the highest recognition for a painter, so the artist puts his best effort into it.

Botticelli, Ave Maria, c. 1485, Uffizi Gallery

Michelangelo, The Holy Family, c. 1506, Uffizi Gallery

Actually, the Florentines of that era learned to compare Botticelli's work with other artists, and they could see how modern he was. So his religious paintings built a bridge to the High Renaissance, but not only that, but also the Birth of Venus, which I also feel has been misunderstood, and only the artistic creation aspect of it has been appreciated.

Botticelli, The Birth of Venus (detail of trees), circa 1485-1487, Uffizi Gallery

The Paper: It is often believed that Botticelli's poverty in his later years was related to the "Bonfire of the Vanities". But it was also after 1492 that Botticelli gradually moved away from the emphasis on physical beauty and anatomical accuracy. Is the puzzling style of his late works due to his heavy reliance on the studio and the formulaic repetition of sketches, which led to a decline in people's appreciation of his works? In your opinion, what is the main reason for his declining reputation in the second half of his life? Why is there such a big gap between his late and early works?

Dombrovski: I don't think Botticelli's reputation has declined. In fact, we now know that Botticelli's studio was the only one that was thriving and productive throughout the 1490s and early 1500s. He continued to produce work during these years, while some artists had to stop because they couldn't find patrons, but Botticelli did not, which is exactly what Vasari describes.

Botticelli, The Story of Lucretia, c. 1500, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston, Massachusetts

Most of the frescoes that Botticelli and his assistants painted for the Sistine Chapel were covered by Michelangelo, and only part of them can be seen. The picture shows one of the surviving paintings, "The Punishment of the Sons of Korah", which shows Botticelli's reproduction of the classics, with the Arch of Constantine in Rome in the center of the background. Around 1500, he painted the Arch again in "The Story of Lucretia".

We are still influenced by Vasari and still believe that Botticelli stopped painting in his later years and became impoverished, but this is not true. Botticelli would have been one of the richest painters at the time of his death because he created not only large works for public places but also smaller works for private collectors, which allowed him to try new things more freely in his later years and become a very free artist, a modern artist type that only appeared in the late 16th century.

Although his late works may look different from the earlier ones, I think they were mainly done by his studio, students or collaborators who tried to imitate his style. Botticelli had so many commissions at the time that many of the works were assigned to his collaborators.

Botticelli and his studio, "Madonna and Child with St. John the Baptist", Clark Art Institute, USA

I understand your question, but even in the Birth of Venus from the late 1480s, I see deviations from the aesthetic norms he had established. For example, the legs, neck, and face become longer, and the arms become thinner. These changes actually began in the 1480s, which is usually defined as Botticelli's "classic period", but it is during this period that all these changes begin to appear.

Left: Botticelli, Primavera (detail), circa 1482/1483, Uffizi Gallery; Right: Botticelli, Madonna and Saints (Saint Barnabas Altarpiece, detail of the upper body of the Madonna), 1487/1488, Uffizi Gallery

Botticelli, Venus and Mars, c. 1485, National Gallery, London

Since he worked for private clients, he could develop a personalized style, which means that his personal style may seem weird, but in Baroque art theory, "weirdness" is a very positive evaluation, which is the embodiment of the artist's true expression of his artistic vision, rather than following the norms or standards of others. Therefore, I think Botticelli was able to show his own unique artistic style more in his later years.

Botticelli, The Mystical Nativity, 1500, National Gallery, London

The Paper: How has the understanding of Botticelli changed in later generations? How do we view Botticelli today?

Dombrovsky: Botticelli was not completely forgotten, but his influence almost disappeared from the High Renaissance until the second half of the 19th century, when he was rediscovered by the Pre-Raphaelites. First, artists, and soon after, art historians began to pay attention to him. However, these art historians were more influenced by the artist. At that time, people had a romantic feeling about Botticelli, which was called "Botticelli fever". At the end of the 19th century, everyone was obsessed with Botticelli (Note: This paragraph is not Dombrovsky's research, but his description of art history).

Botticelli, Portrait of a Woman, 1475

Rossetti, Daydreams, 1880

But for them, Botticelli was a romantic figure, as Vasari portrayed him, once acclaimed, successful, and wealthy, then impoverished. None of this was true, but people at the time didn't want to know the truth. They liked the description of Botticelli as completely in tune with the times: during Lorenzo's lifetime, he fully supported the Medici family, and during Savonarola's six years of rule, he fully supported Savonarola. This statement perfectly fits the romantic view of Botticelli. So all early art historians followed this way of thinking.

Other writers followed suit. But it didn't stop there. The famous German scholar Warburg (1866-1929) wrote his doctoral thesis on "Spring" and "The Birth of Venus", but he didn't really discuss Botticelli's art, but only explored the stylized content of these paintings. This marked the beginning of a strict iconographic approach to Botticelli's paintings. Paintings were no longer examined for their artistic value (such as color, composition, line and painting), but were explored based on iconography. (Note: The main research method for Botticelli in the 20th century started with text rather than images, and it cannot fully show all of Botticelli's achievements. From the artist's perspective, how colors and lines are distributed on a plane is the main way to create great art, and then the program.)

Botticelli, Spring, circa 1482/1483, Uffizi Gallery

Although some people have tried different things, they have been basically ignored until now (programs or iconography come first). Botticelli's works have become a battlefield for iconography. This is what I call "misunderstanding", people are studying something that does not actually belong to the category of art. Programs are not artistic, but how artists use and transform programs is artistic. Although programs or iconography are indeed very interesting, they are not the process of artistic creation.

That's why I think Botticelli is misunderstood or partially misunderstood. I think we should really focus on his art and his method and process as an artist. Although Botticelli left almost no written records, I still think he was a great thinker because the way he thought was expressed through painting.

Botticelli's illustrations for The Divine Comedy

The Paper: Botticelli’s “The Birth of Venus” has been borrowed and appropriated as a pattern by contemporary artists. How do you think contemporary artists should interpret them?

Dombrovsky: I am an art historian and am not very familiar with the reinterpretation of Botticelli's "The Birth of Venus" by contemporary artists. However, I see that what this painting represents has gone beyond the painting itself and has become a symbol. This phenomenon does not fall within the professional scope of art historians because it involves commercialization, which is a consumption behavior of Botticelli. For example, in 2022, when a French designer brand launched a series of clothing using the image of "The Birth of Venus" without authorization, it triggered a long lawsuit and eventually had to pay a large amount of compensation to the Uffizi Gallery.

Andy Warhol, Detail of Renaissance Painting, 1984

This consumerist behavior does not mean anything profound. This is a way that I personally do not agree with, and I do not think that the way that contemporary people view Botticelli's "The Birth of Venus" is appropriate. I personally am very disgusted by the exploitation of Botticelli's "The Birth of Venus" in modern popular culture, for example, about 15 years ago, in a photograph by the American photographer David LaChapelle, Venus was portrayed as an aggressive, sexy woman. This is completely different from Botticelli's image of Venus, because this painting is not about sex, but about the expression of beauty.

Botticelli's Venus is the purest image you can imagine. That's all I can say, I'm not an art critic, nor do I specialize in contemporary art.

"Comparative Art" from a Global Perspective

The Paper: The book you edited includes "Eyes and Gaze: From Ancient Egyptian Pictorial Art to Modern Pictorial Art", which explores the expression and symbolic meaning of eyes and gaze in art, including China. Did you find a new perspective on the study of global art history during your visit to China?

Dombrovsky: "Eyes and Gaze" is a project completed with students, and the book was published in 2014. It focuses on how vision is represented in different countries and periods (such as Renaissance Europe, Tang Dynasty China, and even ancient Egypt), and what importance is given to the depiction of eyes? In this way, we can study and study the way cultures overlap. Although this project was 10 years ago, it may be a starting point for comparative analysis in the field of global art history.

During my two weeks in China, I was struck by the presence of some motifs in traditional Chinese painting in the late Baroque period. Although not explicitly, I refer to the way in which an image is composed as a decorative method, and the compositional approach of Chinese painting has a strong connection to Rococo style decoration. Although Chinese painting follows certain decorative rules, the decoration itself has morphological similarities, such as the outlines of pine trees in Ming Dynasty Chinese paintings. I am referring to the structural similarities of abstract patterns, not thematic connections.

Dong Qichang, Eight Views of Yan and Wu, from the collection of Shanghai Museum

I foresee that my next research project will be "Tiepolo and Ancient Chinese Art" or "Tiepolo in the East". Venice was probably the most international city in the Mediterranean at the time, and Marco Polo was a Venetian. Venice has always been very much looking to the East (not just the Middle East, but also the Far East), certainly from a European perspective, and a lot of artifacts from China or other parts of East Asia were brought to Venice. I think Tiepolo's experience of looking at these things may have influenced the way he created art.

This is my first time in China, and I have a new appreciation for the rich variety of art forms in China, and I realize that the concept of "Fine Art" in China is very different from the European one I am familiar with. When I saw bronzes, jade carvings, ceramics and other art forms in the Shanghai Museum, I felt that the scope of what is considered "art" in Chinese culture is much broader. In Europe, some art forms are traditionally classified as applied arts (or arts and crafts), but in China, they enjoy equal respect. This difference in perspective seems to have opened up a new understanding for me. I want to deepen my understanding of these, but I also want to trace these similarities at the morphological (not iconographic) level.

Damian Dombrovsky admires Chinese paintings in Beijing.

Of course, we don’t have to overemphasize the similarities. Because in these two weeks, I have learned a lot of things that I didn’t know before. For example, China and Europe have very different ways of understanding art. The European cultural tradition does not have the concept of “poetry, calligraphy, painting and seal carving”.

However, one thing that China and Western Europe are similar to is that they both have art systems, a clear understanding of art, and reflection in theory, academy, teaching, etc. So art is not just about creating artifacts, nor does it have only religious or sacrificial purposes, but it is an autonomous form of expression, which I think is most evident in Chinese and Western European art. I have a very firm belief that art is an expression of human thought.

Of course, it's wonderful to admire African art, but they don't have this system. Art serves a different purpose in Africa, and the art forms are very different (dancing is considered more art than carving a mask, for example). But there are some general similarities between China and Western Europe that make the two regions somewhat comparable, even if they don't always occur at the same time.

The Paper: In your research, you advocate "comparative art studies from a global perspective." What kind of research method is this? How do you look at the culture of other regions from a European perspective?

Dombrovsky: About 15 years ago, I tried to introduce comparative art studies, but failed. Maybe it was the wrong time. I applied for a professorship dedicated to comparing different artistic civilizations, mainly between China and Western Europe. But the position was not accepted. I almost left the field.

In 2008, I published "Comparison, Now!" in the Süddeutsche Zeitung (one of the two most serious German newspapers). Perhaps because it was not published in an academic journal, it attracted more attention and brought me some reputation. I have always wanted to delve deeper into this field, but perhaps only after this experience in China did I really start.

In 2008, Dombrovsky published an article titled "Comparison, Now!" in the Süddeutsche Zeitung.

When I started to do it, I found that the things I advocated 15 or 16 years ago were already being realized in the World Art History Institute (WAI). At a seminar at the China Academy of Art, two students compared the different approaches of China and the West to art issues. Although I was not involved in it, it was like my dream came true. The approach mentioned at that time is now developing. I am very happy, but I have not made much contribution to this field myself.

Damian Dombrovsky visits Shanghai Dongyi Art Museum.

It is very clear to me that the study of purely European art has reached its end. Perhaps this is because we have studied certain periods, especially the Renaissance, in great depth, and art history as a discipline has existed for 150 years and has always focused on this period, so there is not much new to say about the Renaissance. Now, the study of 19th-century art history is attracting more and more young scholars. I think it may not be enough to continue the traditional study of the Renaissance. Of course, knowledge about the Renaissance needs to be passed down from generation to generation, but it may be necessary to break away from the Eurocentric perspective.

Damian Dombrovsky visits the exhibition “Starting from Shanghai: A glimpse of Chinese oil painting over the past century” at the Liu Haisu Art Museum in Shanghai

Therefore, I think that "comparative art studies" represents the future direction of research. It may not be our generation, but the next generation that will promote the development of this field. I am quite confident about this. I hope that the new generation of research will not only be a critic (art critic) or a historian who only studies culture, but as a real art historian, which is very important.

The Paper: You are also the director of the Martin von Wagner Museum at the University of Würzburg (the museum is divided into ancient and modern parts, and Dombrovsky is in charge of the modern part). The museum's collection is known for ancient Greek pottery vases. We generally believe that the Renaissance followed the ancient Greek tradition, but can it be traced back to ancient Egypt even earlier?

Dombrovsky: Actually, the Martin von Wagner Museum is not only famous for its collection of ancient Greek vases and antiquities, but also for its paintings section and its collection of prints and drawings. I am the head of the department of paintings, prints and drawings, so it is not easy to answer questions about the antiquity section.

The Martin von Wagner Museum, located in the south wing of Würzburg Palace since 1963, is one of the largest university museums in Europe.

But the museum's research does touch on these aspects. The influence of ancient Egypt on Greek art is a historical question. Even during the Renaissance, it was known that ancient Egypt had some influence on Greek art, but this influence was usually recognized within the Mediterranean context. Ancient Egypt was considered the oldest country, so antiquity was still seen as a value in that era. Ancient Greece was considered the bearer of ancient wisdom, but it was not until the 19th century that this view began to become systematized.

Europa riding a bull, amphora, early 5th century BC, Martin von Wagner Museum

At the beginning of the 19th century, people first realized that Greek art was more than just classical art, and as newly discovered artifacts came into view, people began to see older layers of Greek art that had clear similarities to ancient Egyptian art. So around 1820 to 1830, people began to think about the connection between Greek art and Egyptian art. Before that, there had been almost no similar discussions. So this influence may have had some impact on the collection of our museum, because our museum was founded in 1832. In fact, there has always been a strong division between modern and ancient art.

The Paper: As the curator of the museum's modern section (painting gallery and printmaking department), if you were to plan an exhibition in China on the "Giotto to Tiepolo era" (or an artist or a slice of this era), and if classic works cannot be loaned out, from what perspective would you go about it?

Dombrovski: First of all, I’m glad you used the term “from Giotto to Tiepolo”; this roughly covers the period of what China calls “Renaissance art,” and these two creative artists, Giotto and Tiepolo, really mark the beginning and end of this period. Most of my scholarly work has focused on this creative five hundred years (roughly 1300 to 1800).

Federico Barocci, Study for the Portrait of Duke Federico Bonaventura, 1602, Martin von Wagner Museum

If I have the opportunity to curate an exhibition in China, my choice will undoubtedly be Tiepolo, the most famous artist in Europe in the 18th century. He is the subject of my most in-depth research in the past ten years, so I know that his works summarize the tradition of European art in the above period, and his example can be used to illustrate the universal laws of European art.

During my lecture in Beijing, I realized that the Chinese public is not very familiar with the name "Tiepolo"; I hope to make some difference in this regard because he, better than many other early modern European artists, illustrates the meaning of "the freedom of art requires only art itself."

Tiepolo's large ceiling painting "Allegory of the Planets and Continents" in the Würzburg Palace depicts the sun god Apollo moving in the sky, surrounded by the four directions symbolizing the four continents of Europe, Asia, Africa and America.

If I could pursue this idea further, I would focus on Tiepolo's relationship with the Far East, especially with regard to inspiration from China. It was during my stay in China that I became aware of this possible relationship. The discovery was like an electric shock to me - suddenly I saw Rococo forms, the dominant decorative style in Europe in the mid-18th century, in everything from silk embroidery to landscape painting, on Chinese artifacts on display in museums.

Tiepolo, The Satyrs (Pan and his Family), circa 1743-1750, etching

I hope to continue exploring this connection, as my next major project will focus on Tiepolo's opening up to the (non-European) world. Let us not forget: this painter came from Venice, where he lived most of his life, and had long-standing connections with China. Bringing Tiepolo's paintings, especially drawings, into dialogue with Chinese artworks, in order to trace the rhythm of the world: this would be a dream for an exhibition that would be both educational and poetic.

Tiepolo, Asian Section of the Staircase Frescoes at Würzburg Palace, 1752/1753

Note: I would like to thank Lu Jia (PhD candidate at WAI), Wang Lianming (Associate Professor of Chinese and History, City University of Hong Kong), and the World Art History Institute (WAI) of Shanghai International Studies University for their great assistance in this article. The "Lecture Series of World Art History Distinguished Scholars" will be launched in September 2023. The theme of 2023-2024 is "Art and Culture in the Renaissance". Twelve top scholars from six countries will be invited to China to share their research results in this field.