The Story of Nastagio degli Onesti, First Episode - Sandro Botticelli
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Description
A narrative panel by Sandro Botticelli depicting a scene from Boccaccio's Decameron, featuring a spectral hunt within a pine forest.
This work is the first of four panels commissioned to commemorate the marriage between the Pucci and Bini families in Florence. The narrative derives from Boccaccio's Decameron, specifically the eighth story of the fifth day. It depicts the protagonist, Nastagio, wandering through a pine forest near Ravenna where he encounters a spectral hunt.
In this scene, a knight pursues a woman, accompanied by two hounds. The composition is structured to guide the viewer through the unfolding drama. On the left, Nastagio stands in a pose of surprise, observing the violent encounter. In the centre, the knight attacks the woman, who is shown prone on the ground. To the right, a white horse stands as a witness to the event. The background reveals a coastal view, providing a sense of distance and spatial depth that contrasts with the immediate action in the foreground.
Botticelli employs a clear, linear style typical of his work during this period. The figures are rendered with precise contours, and the forest is depicted with a rhythmic arrangement of vertical tree trunks. The palette is balanced, using natural tones for the foliage and more saturated colours for the garments of the figures. The painting functions as a decorative piece, originally intended for a spalliera, a type of wainscot panel common in Florentine domestic interiors. The attention to detail in the flora and the anatomical rendering of the figures reflects the artistic priorities of the Quattrocento. This panel remains a significant example of how secular literature was integrated into the domestic art of the Italian Renaissance, blending moral instruction with courtly storytelling.
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Each print is produced to order using 12-colour giclée printing on FSC-certified archival paper. Designed in Britain and printed at your nearest production hub to reduce waste and speed up delivery.
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Specific Features
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- Museum-grade giclée printing for rich, fade-resistant colour
- Archival matte fine-art paper, FSC-certified
- Multiple sizes and framing options available
- Frames in black, natural wood, dark wood or white
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- Dust gently with a soft, dry cloth
- Avoid prolonged direct sunlight
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Materials & Sizing
Museum-grade giclée on FSC-certified archival matte paper, with framed and canvas options.
- Paper sizes: A4, A3, A2, A1, A0 and B2 (50×70 cm)
- Canvas: XS (20×30 cm) to Large (60×90 cm)
- Frames: black, natural wood, dark wood or white
The Story of Nastagio degli Onesti, First Episode - Sandro Botticelli
Artist Biography
Sandro Botticelli
He worked in Florence under the patronage of the Medici family during the period art historians call the Early Renaissance. The Birth of Venus and Primavera, both painted in the 1480s, are his best-known works and among the most reproduced images in Western art. They are strange paintings. Venus stands on a shell, blown to shore by the wind, her body curved in a way that owes nothing to anatomical reality and everything to Gothic line. Primavera fills a dark orange grove with mythological figures whose feet barely touch the ground.
The paintings are technically tempera on canvas and panel, executed with a fineness of line that reflects his goldsmith training. The outlines are visible. The surfaces are flat compared to the oil-based modelling that Leonardo and other contemporaries were developing. Botticelli was not interested in three-dimensional illusion. He was interested in contour, pattern, and the way a line can describe both a body and an emotion simultaneously.
His later career was affected by the rise of the Dominican friar Girolamo Savonarola, who preached against secular art and luxury. Botticelli may have burned some of his own paintings in the Bonfire of the Vanities in 1497. Whether this represents genuine religious conversion or political self-preservation is unclear. His output declined. He died in 1510, largely forgotten, and was not rediscovered until the Pre-Raphaelites championed him in the nineteenth century.
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