Simonetta Vespucci

Simonetta Cattaneo de Vespucci, wife of Mario Vespucci(who was the cousin of Amerigo Vespucci the explorer), lover of Giuliano de Medici, and Muse not only of Sandro Botticelli, but also of Piero de Cosimo.


Portrait of Simonetta Vespucci - Piero de Cosimo

So beloved was she of pretty much every man in Florence, where she moved in 1470 after her marriage aged 15 to the aforementioned Marco, that supposedly no less than 50 men would crowd outside her window every morning in the hope of catching a glimpse of her.


Scene from the life of Moses (Sistine Chapel Fresco)- Sandro Botticelli

Such was her appeal that Guiliano de Medici, of the famously powerful mercantile family of Florence, jousted for her under a banner, painted by Botticelli, which portrayed her as Athena, with the words "She without parallel" embroidered beneath it.


Portrait of Simonetta Vespucci - Sandro Botticelli

She died aged only 22 from tuberculosis, but works of art continued to use her as their muse for the following 50 years as her memory lived on in the artists of the day. Botticelli, it is hypothesised, was deeply in love with her, as many of his paintings contain features similar to hers, and he requested to be buried at her feet in the church of the Ognissanti in Florence.


Portrait of A Young Woman - Sandro Botticelli


The Death of Procris - Piero de Cosimo

And finally, the question that has teased many art historians, is this based on her?