Sandro Botticelli

Ah, Sandro Botticelli, the rockstar of the Florentine Renaissance, famous for giving the world "The Birth of Venus" and "Primavera". Born Alessandro di Mariano Filipepi, he was affectionately nicknamed 'Botticelli', meaning "little barrel". This master of graceful lines and mythological scenes spent most of his life working for the powerful Medici family. Now for the juicy bits. Rumor has it he was hopelessly in love with the beautiful Simonetta Vespucci, the likely model for Venus, and even requested to be buried at her feet—a wish that was granted. He never married, claiming the idea gave him nightmares. Whispers also followed him about "keeping a boy," a common accusation in Renaissance Florence. And in a fit of religious fervor late in life, he may have tossed some of his own pagan-themed masterpieces into Savonarola's "Bonfire of the Vanities". What a character