The piece that I have chosen to analyze is The Birth of Venus by Sandro Botticelli. This beautiful painting was probably completed sometime between 1482-86 in Florence, Italy, as a commission from Lorenzo de’ Medici. It is believed that he gave this painting and another, La Primavera, to his younger cousin as a wedding gift to decorate his home with. It is currently on display in Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence.
What really strikes me about this painting is not just the Classical beauty of the characters, but the simple purity portrayed by Venus. Venus has many faces. She is best known as the Roman goddess of love, fertility, and beauty, and often she is thought of as less than innocent and gentle. However, she is also the goddess of chastity, domestic bliss, and marriage. She was even once associated with aspects of Nature, such as the arrival of Spring and gardening.
I much prefer this Venus – beautiful and graceful, covering herself but feeling little shame in her elegant nakedness. She has a “divine perfection” that radiates from her despite her gruesome birth (she was born when Zeus castrated the Titan Uranus and killed him). I like to believe that the nymph about to cover her with a robe is not doing so to hide her naked figure, but as a sign of respect and deep affection for the deity.
My resources:
http://www.botticellibirthofvenus.com/
http://www.aiwaz.net/birth-of-venus-and-la-primavera-conjoined/a115
http://smarthistory.org/Botticelli.html
http://www.goddessgift.com/goddess-myths/roman_goddess_venus.html
I think you did a good job evaluating the piece. You included all required information and a little extra background. I find it astounding that a piece like this wasn’t created for the joy of the creation, but because it was commissioned, in this case by Lorenzo de’ Medici. I too think this is a beautiful painting. In a time when ‘thin is in’ it is refreshing to see such a wonderful creation portraying a more realistic perception of the human form. The characters on the left seem as if they are in awe of her. I had known the Venus was considered the god of love, fertility, beauty, and even marriage and domestic bliss, but I never knew that she was also the god of chastity. This explains why she is covering herself. When I first read your post I thought it was odd that Venus is both considered to be the god of love and the god of chastity, but upon further consideration, there were many times throughout history when the concept of sex only after marriage was highly popularized.
I really liked this painting, the way it’s reflecting Venus birth being both pure and clean, which is a big difference from being born though the castration of Titian Uranus. Your evaluation of this piece is very interesting and i enjoyed the background information that went into the history of the painting. This piece of work truly shows the Medici’s effect on art during this time period and how their wealth generated a lot of beautiful artwork.
I am glad you not only gave the required information about the piece but you also included the lesser known characteristics associated with Venus. The only thing that I would have mentioned is that she was born already grown in the sea and drifted to shore on a shell. At least that is what I learned while researching my piece. I didn’t know about Zeus and Uranus though.
It is a magnificent piece, one that incorporates the humanistic way of depicting the human form to its upmost natural beauty. I would really like to know more about what it symbolizing though; who is the person that appears to be blowing and the girl wrapped around him? what are the symbols within the work?
I really do find the piece quite masterful. So many images are incorporated and the style is really appealing and pleasing to the eye.
I think you did a great job of analyzing this piece and connecting it to the Italian Renaissance. You gave really good background information on Venus which I think is important to know when looking at the painting and understanding the story it is trying to tell. I have seen this painting numerous times and have always really enjoyed it. I think the painting captures the love and beauty associated with Venus. I like how you analyzed the action of the nymph on the right of the painting. It made me study the painting further and reflect on why she is trying to cover Venus with the robe. I think I agree with you that she is not covering up the nakedness of Venus, but just offering her a robe out of devotion.
I liked your writing on this piece. I think you clearly outlined what was going on in it, and made it easy to understand. It seems as if you also did a quite good job of tying this piece into the influence that the Medici’s family’s influence on art during the renaissance. The references that you included about this piece were also very interesting to read as well.
What a beautiful work! Venus is a sweet contrast to the image of the man holding the woman and blowing wind toward Venus. You did a wonderful job citing your resources and including the facts about the work. The way you write about your interpretatioon of the painting is well written. Who are the other three people in the painting?
Did you know about a wall painting from a roman villa inPompeii that describes the same scene? Obviously Boticelli has never seen that one because it was covered with volcanic ash for centuries but its nice to connect them…
this PEACE of ART is a description of a PHYSICAL EVENT that happen , on the left IS JUPITER and EARTH giving birth to VENUS which came out from the dark spot on JUPITER and got captured next to EARTH orbit . ONE can see on the breath of ZEUS the (JUPITER )