ABSTRACT
As with the architecture and sculpture of the latter half
of the fi fteenth century, the effects of religious and
political confl ict in Florence are sometimes refl ected in
paintings. For example, tension is as characteristic of
the fi gures in Pollaiuolo’s pictures as it is of his sculp-
ture, though its source is diffi cult to identify. Botticelli’s
commission to paint the Pazzi conspirators on the walls
of the Palazzo Vecchio indicates his alliance with the
Medici family and proximity to political events. His late
work seems to have been profoundly infl uenced by the
moral fervor of Savonarola, just as Donatello’s seems to
have been affected by the preaching of Antoninus. In
Botticelli’s case Savonarola’s impact is confi rmed by the
artist himself.
