Die Taufe des heiligen Zenobius

This comes from the very end of Botticelli's life, around 1500, and it is a long way from the graceful Venus everyone knows. By now Florence had lived through the rise and fiery downfall of the preacher Savonarola, who had urged the city to burn its vanities, and Botticelli's late work turned plain, urgent and devout. The panel tells the early life of Zenobius, a 5th-century bishop who became a patron saint of Florence, reading across like a story strip: he turns from the bride his parents chose, is baptised, brings his mother to baptism, and kneels to be made bishop. It was made to sit at shoulder height along a wall or bed, a piece of furniture as much as a picture. The pale, calm buildings behind are the clean architecture of Botticelli's own Florence.