A new exhibition of Sandro Botticelli's paintings, including some never seen in the U.S., will give museumgoers a glimpse into the artist's own search for sanctity. The show, "Botticelli and the Search for the Divine," opens Saturday at Boston's Museum of Fine Arts. It showcases valuable works from the Italian Renaissance master's catalog, including a life-size "Venus" painting being displayed in America for the first time.

"We're giving the American public a chance to take a trip to Renaissance Florence," said Frederick Ilchman, who curated the exhibit for the museum. The exhibition aims to tell how Botticelli developed as an artist. For lovers of Italian Renaissance art, a proper Botticelli show in America is long overdue.