Altarpiece of Saint Barnaba

A magnificent commission from the richest guild in Florence, the doctors and apothecaries, for their church which was dedicated to their saint, Barnabas, the protector of medicine. Within this guild, there were every kind of sponsorship imaginable and unimaginable, every name in Florence is represented, and this was a very important commission. Botticelli agreed to paint this strange painting, which, as we have already seen, is composed of a pediment from the Greek temple that shows us a Virgin and Child, surrounded by saints.

The composition is surprising, since it is absolutely and totally still and hieratic:
It looks like eight statues placed side by side. What gives mobility to the piece is the presence of the magnificent angels that separate the curtain from the Virgin's stand and reveal all the characters to the faithful. Let us also observe the beauty of the color combinations, the bottle green of the garment of Saint Catherine on the left and the much firmer green of Saint Augustine; The two greens are in counterpoint to the royal blue mantle of the Virgin. Botticelli was already showing the adventurous sense of color that he would develop. One of the figures in this altarpiece would become famous: the image of Saint John the Baptist, long thought to be another Botticelli self-portrait, but which simply remains a deeply moving face due to the piercing quality of Botticelli's eyes. gave. .