Synopsis:
Beauty, creativity, genius: the Renaissance Florence of Lorenzo de’ Medici, known as the Magnificent, was a powerhouse of art and culture, and much more besides. Among countless shops and government buildings, there was so much beauty coexisting with the dark side of the city, made up of power struggles, plots, intrigues and brutal violence. One artist, more than any other, was able to project into his works, the lights and shadows of an era destined never to be forgotten: Sandro Botticelli (1445-1510). We relive Florence and all its art workshops through Botticelli’s life, his collaborations, his challenges and successes. From the outset of his career under the wing of the Medici family, Botticelli asserted himself as the inventor of an ideal Beauty, which found its maximum expression in works such as The Allegory of Spring and the Birth of Venus. The death of Lorenzo the Magnificent, the apocalyptic sermons of Girolamo Savonarola and the bonfires of the vanities, mark the downward spiral of the Florentine master, destined to be forgotten for over three centuries. The rediscovery of Botticelli by the Pre-Raphaelites sparked of a genuine Botticelli-mania which, from the Nineteenth Century onwards, continues to this day. From Salvador Dalì to Andy Warhol, David LaChapelle to Jeff Koons and Lady Gaga, no one appears to be immune to the eternal fascination of Botticelli and his works, continually re-imagined by artists of all kinds so as to become part of our collective imagination. Refined draughtsman, revolutionary portrait painter and extraordinary interpreter of his times: this is Sandro Botticelli, the Inventor of Beauty.

Synopsis:
It tells the story of the artist from Urbino, starting from his extraordinary portraits of women – the Mother, the Friend, the Secret Lover and the Client. From Magia Ciarla, who died when the painter was only 8 years old, to the female admirers who helped him on the road to success, down to and including the woman who, as legend would have it, would lead him to his death. Figures of women that really existed and some that were also products of his imagination, all of these women tell the story of a specific moment in the artist’s short life. Raphael, (1483-1520), was able to portray an ideal of celestial beauty, and to focus his gaze more on the psychology of their features than on their physical form, so that their personalities emerge in an explosive manner. Thanks to contributions from internationally renowned experts, this documentary film will enable us to discover the most significant cities and places in the life and times of one of the most amazing Renaissance painters.