At the height of his fame, the Florentine painter and draughtsman Sandro Botticelli (1445-1510) was one of the most esteemed artists in Italy. His graceful pictures of the Madonna and Child, his altarpieces, and his life-size mythological paintings such as "Venus and Mars", were immensely popular in his lifetime and are iconic masterpieces of the Italian Renaissance. In this volume, numerous large-sized illustrations showcase the artist's oeuvre, and authoritative texts illustrate the decisive stages in the artist's life and in the development of his work, explaining their significance in the context of his time and for the following generations of artists.