The Florentine Eight pay Botticelli for painting the Pazzi conspirators as hanged traitors
In July 1478 the Otto paid Botticelli for painting the Pazzi conspirators as hanged traitors on a public government wall after Giuliano de’ Medici’s murder. In the causal graph this event strengthens Political Polarization, a driver that weakens Having a say in government — a worsening welfare path.
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In July 1478 the Otto paid Botticelli for painting the Pazzi conspirators as hanged traitors on a public government wall after Giuliano de’ Medici’s murder. This Fact is that defamatory fresco commission as a completed political-image instrument. The paintings do not survive.
Context
A state infamy picture is polarising propaganda of punishment. It is his documented public work for the regime, not a later museum Madonna.
Sandro Botticelli’s documented role is bounded by other offices and collaborators named in the sources below.
Payment of 40 florins on 21 July 1478 is in the Eight’s record as received. The frescoes on the Dogana/Bargello-Palazzo complex were a pittura infamante. They were later destroyed after 1494. Leonardo’s hanging drawing of Bandini is a neighbouring witness, not this commission.
Why it matters
A paid hanging-image on a government wall is a polarisation path. Confidence high on the payment heading, medium on the exact wall.
Who was responsible
Contribution type and responsibility level for each recorded actor — not sole-author shorthand.
Sandro Botticelli
PersonDirect responsibility
responsibility level 0.4 · verified
What changed
Fact → Driver → Indicator. Relationship strength orders the paths; it is not the observed indicator movement.
- FactThe Florentine Eight pay Botticelli for painting the Pazzi conspirators as hanged traitors
- strengthensDriverPolitical Polarization
- weakensIndicators (2)Having a say in government
impact weight 0.5 · Effect from 21 July 1478 · verified
A paid hanging-image on a government wall is a polarisation path. Confidence high on the payment heading, medium on the exact wall.
Weakens · Relationship strength 0.23 (weight 0.5 × strength 0.45)
Observed
29.8% of population aged 16-65 years · 8.13 below the normal line (2023)
Worse than normalTwo readings: 30.2% of population aged 16-65 years (2021) and 29.8% of population aged 16-65 years (2023).
20212023 Above normal = better
Strengthens · Relationship strength 0.23 (weight 0.5 × strength 0.45)
Observed
43.9 Score · 43.9 above the normal line (2024)
Worse than normal26 readings, 1996–2024: rose from 43 Score to 43.9 Score.
Normal is zero · any amount = worse
Evidence
The sources behind this fact and its verification state.
- 1.Comune di Firenze — Palazzo VecchioComune di Firenze · High credibility · verified
- 2.Britannica — Sandro BotticelliEncyclopaedia Britannica · High credibility · verified
What the sources establish
Florence’s Palazzo Vecchio civic file and Britannica’s life independently record the post-Pazzi infamy paintings.
Established: 1478 payment for painting the traitors. Not established: a surviving autograph fresco or a unique riot series from the images.
Sandro Botticelli did not file a later UNESCO form, a later Loeb colophon, or a later museum label as a personal act. A lost infamy fresco is not Primavera. Keep 26 April’s killing distinct from 21 July’s paint.
Causal path
How this event connects to drivers and indicators in the graph.
- ActorSandro Botticelli
- contributed toFactThe Florentine Eight pay Botticelli for painting the Pazzi conspirators as hanged traitors
- strengthensDriverPolitical Polarization
- weakensIndicatorHaving a say in government
Cite this page
Factrail. (2026). The Florentine Eight pay Botticelli for painting the Pazzi conspirators as hanged traitors. Factrail. https://factrail.ai/facts/sb-pazzi-pittura-infamante-1478
https://factrail.ai/facts/sb-pazzi-pittura-infamante-1478
Accessed 16 October 2026.
By the Factrail desk · Method: how we source and score · Last reviewed
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