The Punishment of Korah

by Sandro Botticelli

Title

The Punishment of Korah

Artist

Sandro Botticelli

Medium

Painting - Painting

Description

The Punishment of Korah and the Stoning of Moses and Aaron by Sandro Botticelli

Sandro Botticelli was summoned to Rome in 1481 by Pope Sixtus IV, and charged with decorating the walls of the Sistine Chapel. Botticelli completed three paintings, "Events of the Life of Moses", "The Temptation of Christ", and "The Punishment of Korah", only to have his work upstaged two decades later by the ceiling frescoes of Michelangelo?

On 27 October 1480 Botticelli, together with other Florentine painters, Domenico Ghirlandaio and Cosimo Rosselli, left for Rome, where he had been called as part of the reconciliation project between Lorenzo de' Medici, the de facto ruler of Florence, and Pope Sixtus IV. The Florentines started to work in the Sistine Chapel as early as the Spring of 1481, along with Pietro Perugino, who was already there.


Detail of the fresco
The theme of the decoration was a parallel between the Stories of Moses and those of Christ, as a sign of continuity between the Old and the New Testament. A continuity also between the divine law of the Tables and the message of Jesus, who, in turn, chose Peter (the first bishop of Rome[1]) as his successor: this would finally result in a legitimation of the latter's successors, the popes of Rome.

Botticelli, helped by numerous assistants, painted three scenes. On 17 February 1482 his contract was renovated, including the other scenes to complete the chapel's decoration. However, on 20 February, his father died: he returned to Florence, where he remained.

Uploaded

March 26th, 2021

Statistics

Viewed 517 Times  -  Last Visitor from Ottawa, ON - Canada on 04/21/2024 at 5:50 PM

Colors

Embed

Share

Sales Sheet

Tags