Leonardo's and Botticelli's allegories between allegorical layering and satire

Abstract

This article compares the allegorical strategies of Botticelli and Leonardo da Vinci within the intellectual framework of late medieval and Renaissance humanism. Botticelli’s major allegories, often produced as wedding commissions, draw primarily on classical mythology, sometimes filtered through Landino’s commentary on Dante, with additional layers of satire derived from Lucian or political content. Leonardo, by contrast, built his allegories on elementary texts such as the Fior di virtù, bestiaries, and fables, which he developed into multi-layered visual commentaries enriched by satire, parody, and facezie. Both painters adapted the exegetical tradition of layered readings through the Senses of Scripture (literal, moral, allegorical, and anagogical), familiar from Dante and Landino, applying it to the hermeneutics of visual narratives. Their differing uses of satire, Botticelli’s selective allusions and Leonardo’s grotesque inventions, further highlight their distinct approaches. Their use of satire, especially in the vein of Menippean satire, reveals an intellectual playfulness that bridged art and literature, underscoring their place in the broader paragone between painters and poets as interpreters of hidden truths.