Botticelli work comes to the US for first time.

[elleng]

'For the first time, one of only two life-size nude paintings of a solitary Venus will be on display in the United States as the centerpiece of a new exhibition at the Muscarelle Museum of Art at the College of William & Mary.

For the first time, one of only two life-size nude paintings of a solitary Venus will be on display in the United States as the centerpiece of a new exhibition on Sandro Botticelli, which will be mounted by the Muscarelle Museum of Art at the College of William & Mary from Feb. 11 to April 5.

A personal friend of Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci, Botticelli has been hailed as one of the greatest and most-beloved artists of all time. This exhibition, titled “Botticelli and the Search for the Divine,” includes 16 paintings of religious images and mythologies from major stages of the artist’s life.

“It’s nothing like anything that has come to the United States before,” says Aaron De Groft, director of the Muscarelle. “It’s the evolution of a genius. A lot of these pieces were famous in their own day. There’s a stunningly beautiful ‘Madonna of the Book’ with truly beautiful surfaces and brilliant colors. It’s also a very rare work because the Madonna is shown reading with the infant Christ as his hands are kind of guiding hers.”'>>>

http://www.csmonitor.com/The-Culture/Arts/2017/0207/Botticelli-work-comes-to-the-US-for-first-time?cmpid=FB