Asociación Laulanet

 Sandro Boticcelli & Simonetta Vespucci Detail of 'The birth of Venus' ( English   version ) April 26 was the 546th anniversary of the death of Sandro Boticcelli ’s greatest muse. Just as a big artist requires specific skills, inspiration for the creation of his paintings is no less important. We refer to Simonetta Cattaneo - 'the beautiful Simonetta'. She was born to Cattocchia Spinola and the Genoese nobleman Gaspare Cattaneo Della Volta.  Her date of birth is unclear, but it must have been between 1453 and 1454, between January 28 and March 30. The birth took place in the home of the great Cattaneo merchants. Maybe in Genoa or according to some romantic sources, in Porto Venere (Liguria), the birthplace of the goddess Venus (this last version, arisen due to the late "creators of myths", compares Simonetta to Venus). The poet Poliziano wrote that her house was: “in that Ligurian district up the coast, where the furious Neptune strikes the rocks. There...