Simonetta Vespucci





Simonetta Cattaneo de Vespucci (1453 – April 26 1476), pronounced "veh-SPOO-chee", known as "la bella Simonetta", was the wife of Marco Vespucci of Florence. She also has been alleged to have been the mistress of Giuliano de' Medici, Lorenzo the Magnificent's younger brother. She was renowned for being the greatest beauty of her age - certainly of the city of Florence - and she is believed to have been the model for Venus in Botticelli's The Birth of Venus as well as the model for several other women in his paintings. She also is depicted in Piero di Cosimo's paintings Portrait of Simonetta Vespucci, in which she is portrayed as Cleopatra with an asp around her neck, and The Death of Procris. Countless poems and canvasses by many other painters were also created in her honor.

Early life and Marriage
She was born Simonetta Cattaneo in 1453 or 1454. There is some dispute as to her birthplace; some say that she was born at Portovenere, in Liguria, where the goddess Venus was said to havee been born, while others say at Genoa. At age fifteen she married Marco Vespucci, who was a distant cousin of the famous Florentine explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci. Through the Vespucci family she was discovered by Botticelli and other prominent painters upon arriving at Florence. Before long every nobleman in the city was besotted with her, even the brothers Lorenzo and Giuliano of the ruling Medici family. Lorenzo was occupied with affairs of state, but his younger brother was free to pursue her. At La Giostra (a jousting tournament) in 1475, Giuliano entered the lists bearing a banner on which was a picture of Simonetta painted by Botticelli himself, beneath which was the French inscription La Sans Pareille, “The unparalleled one.” He won the tournament and the affection of “La bella Simonetta,” as she was called, who was nominated “The Queen of Beauty” at that event. It is unknown however if they actually became lovers.

Death
Simonetta died just one year later, on April 26, 1476, probably from pulmonary tuberculosis. She was only twenty-two at the time of her death. The entire city was reported to mourn at the death of "la bella Simonetta" and thousands followed her coffin to its burial. Botticelli finished painting The Birth of Venus in 1485, nine years later. The women in many of Botticelli's painting closely resemble Simonetta, as seen in the several posthumous portraits that he painted of her. This suggests that he also had fallen in love with her, a view supported by his request to be buried at her feet in the Chiesa d'Ognissanti, - which was the parish church of the Vespucci - in Florence. He was interred there at his death, in 1510, some 34 years following her death.