Sandro Botticelli
Saint Augustine in His Study
From $80
This painting is soft pinks, creams and stone greys, and a cheap copy turns it flat and muddy. Our Botticelli Smeralda Brandini print is made from the museum’s own photograph, unretouched, so the pinks stay delicate.
Canvas, framed or paper
Stretched canvas. Printed on cotton canvas and stretched taut over a frame. The edges are mirror-wrapped, so the picture continues around the sides and none of it is lost to the fold.
Framed canvas. The same canvas, set in a black, white, natural wood or dark wood frame 0.83 in deep. The frame gives the work a finished edge and a little more presence on the wall.
Framed print. Printed on fine art matte paper and framed in solid pine, behind shatterproof plexiglass, in black, white, natural wood or dark wood. It arrives ready to hang. Framed sizes are measured on the outside of the frame.
Fine art print. Printed on 310gsm fine art matte paper, for framing your own way. It travels rolled and protected. From 18x24 inch.
Sizes
12x18 inch, 18x28 inch, 24x40 inch. Framed sizes are measured on the outside of the frame, so the visible painting is a little smaller.
On your wall
Its tall shape suits a study, a hallway or a living room wall. The pinks, creams and greys look rich with cream, slate and walnut, and a white or gold frame suits it.
About the painting
Portrait of a Lady known as Smeralda Brandini by Sandro Botticelli
The painter of Medici Florence
Sandro Botticelli worked in Florence for the Medici and their circle, painting gods, saints and some of the most graceful faces of the Renaissance.
A new pose
Earlier Florentine portraits of women were in strict profile. Botticelli turned this woman three-quarters towards us, her hand on the window frame.
Rossetti’s Botticelli
In 1867 the painter Dante Gabriel Rossetti bought it for £20. His patron Constantine Ionides later bought it and left it to the V&A.
Read the story
A young woman with reddish-gold hair stands at an open window. She wears a soft pink dress, and rests one hand on the window frame. She looks out, past us, calm and thoughtful.
Sandro Botticelli painted her around 1475, and something about her was new.
Before this, Florentine painters showed women in strict profile, like heads on a coin. Botticelli turned her three-quarters towards us, and gave her a gesture of her own. It may be the first portrait like it in Florence.
An old inscription on the windowsill names her: Smeralda Bandinelli. She may be Smeralda Brandini, the grandmother of a famous sculptor.
Four hundred years later, the painting came up for sale in London. In 1867 it was bought for the English painter Dante Gabriel Rossetti, who loved Botticelli. He boasted that he had paid only twenty pounds.
Later he sold it to his patron, Constantine Ionides, for three hundred and fifteen pounds. Ionides left it to the Victoria and Albert Museum, where it hangs today.
Portrait of a Lady known as Smeralda Brandini. Sandro Botticelli, about 1475.
How each piece is brought to life
Faithful to the original, and made to be felt on your wall.
Graded against the original
We compare every work with the original as we grade it, keeping the artist’s colours true while bringing back their depth and glow. Every mark stays the artist’s own.
Printed for you
Printed to order on cotton canvas or fine art paper, then framed if you chose a frame, in 1 to 3 business days.
On your wall
It arrives 5 to 12 business days later, tracked and free anywhere in the US. Framed pieces come ready to hang.
Questions
Is this the original painting?
No. The original hangs in a museum. What you receive is a fine art reproduction, remastered from the original and printed for you, with every mark where the artist left it.
Will the colour look flat?
This is where most reproductions disappoint, and it is where we spend the most time. Each work is graded side by side with the original: faithful to the artist’s colours, with the depth and warmth brought back, so it moves you on the wall the way it was meant to. Canvas reads a touch softer than a backlit screen, and every screen shows colour a little differently.
Will the edges be cropped?
Each size is a standard frame size, so we fit the painting by trimming a little from its edges. We never stretch or squash it, and we check every size by eye so no face, figure or signature is cut. On canvas the edges are mirror-wrapped, which keeps the whole picture on the front.
Which size is right for my wall?
Aim for about two-thirds the width of the furniture beneath it. Over a sofa or a sideboard, one of the two largest sizes will hold the wall. The size guide lists every size in inches and centimetres, with the kind of wall each one suits.
How long does it take?
Your piece is printed in 1–3 business days, then spends 5–12 business days in transit, tracked all the way. Delivery is free anywhere in the US. We are unable to deliver to PO boxes.
What if it arrives damaged?
Send us a photograph and we will remake it and send it again. There is nothing to return.
Can I return it?
Yes, within 30 days of delivery. Our returns policy has the details.
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Printed to order
Graded against the original, then printed for you on cotton canvas or fine art paper in 1–3 business days.
The whole painting
Every mark is the artist’s own, and canvas edges are mirror-wrapped so the whole picture stays on the front.
Free US shipping
On every order, tracked, 5–12 business days in transit.
30-day returns
Returns and exchanges within 30 days of delivery.
