Sandro Botticelli

Florentine painter closely tied to the Medici circle and its Neoplatonic philosophers. His graceful, linear style and large mythological canvases brought pagan goddesses back into Western painting on a monumental scale. Later in life he fell under the influence of the preacher Savonarola, and his reputation faded until the Pre-Raphaelites rediscovered him in the 19th century.