Copy after Botticelli

Julian Alden Weir

Date unknown · Watercolor on paper · The American Wing

Weir likely made this watercolor copy after Botticelli’s painting of the same name (ca. 1470–75; Musée du Louvre, Paris) when he was studying in Paris in the 1870s. As a student of the École des Beaux-Arts, he would have been encouraged to study the works of the old masters at the Louvre. Much celebrated today, Botticelli’s reputation was undergoing a revival in the mid-nineteenth century when he was "rediscovered" by British critic and painter John Ruskin (1819–1900) and the Pre-Raphaelites. Critic Walter Pater (1839–1894) wrote a glowing essay about Botticelli in 1870, describing him as "a poetical painter" who blends "the charm of story and sentiment."

Artist

Julian Alden Weir

Date

Date unknown

Medium

Watercolor on paper

Culture

American

Department

The American Wing

Credit line

Gift of Coe Kerr Gallery, 1982