The Birth Of Venus

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But I’m glad I waited and borrowed it from the library. I keep having that experience with literary fiction, where it starts out brilliantly, then peters out. Or cheaps out. I can handle a downer ending as long as it’s not cheap. The artist did not achieve public acclaim until four centuries after his death. It is no surprise that more popular High Renaissance painters such as Michelangelo, who was working

Not only was The Birth of Venus by Botticelli a magnificent canvas showcasing a mythological scene and fit for a country villa, but it also showcased the first figure of a nude female in full size. This has not been done since the times of antiquity. We know by the painting’s title it was Venus, but who exactly was Venus? Rather than choosing one of the many interpretations offered for Botticelli's depiction of the Birth (Arrival?) of Venus it might be better to view it from a variety of perspectives. This layered approach—mythological, political, religious—was intended. [48] Derivative versions [ edit ] Berlin Venus, workshop of Botticelli. Gemäldegalerie, Berlin. The subject is not strictly the "Birth of Venus", a title given to the painting only in the nineteenth century (though given as the subject by Vasari), but the next scene in her story, where she arrives on land, blown by the wind. The land probably represents either Cythera or Cyprus, both Mediterranean islands regarded by the Greeks as territories of Venus. [9] Technical [ edit ] More than a decade later, Botticelli adapted the figure of Venus for a nude personification of "Truth" in his Calumny of Apelles. Here one hand is raised, pointing to heaven for justification, and the figure's gaze also looks upwards; the whole effect is very different. [52]To Venus’ left (our right) there is another female figure on the shore, waiting to meet her. She holds out a florally decorated cloak to cover Venus. This figure is identified as one of the Horae, which are the goddesses of the seasons, specifically the Hora of Spring due to the floral patterns and flowers on her dress. The Birth of Venus was painted around 1484 to 1486. This was during the Early Renaissance period in Italy, a period that spanned the 1400s. It was also referred to as the Quattrocento period, which was after the Middle Ages and Proto-Renaissance period and preceded the latter part of the Renaissance called the High Renaissance.

The closest precedent for the scene is generally agreed to be in one of the early ancient Greek Homeric Hymns, published in Florence in 1488 by the Greek refugee Demetrios Chalkokondyles: The Birth of Venus painting by Alessandro Botticelli is one of the most famous mythological paintings from the Early Renaissance period. Although Sandro Botticelli was not as popular as other artists from the Renaissance, such as Leonardo da Vinci or Michelangelo, he still contributed one of the most beautiful and sensory-enriching paintings of the goddess Venus. In the case of Botticelli's Birth of Venus, the suggested references to Lorenzo, supported by other internal indicators such as the stand of laurel bushes at the right, would have been just the sort of thing erudite Florentine humanists would have appreciated. Accordingly, by overt implication, Lorenzo becomes the new Alexander the Great with an implied link to both Augustus, the first Roman emperor, and even to Florence's legendary founder, Caesar himself. Lorenzo, furthermore, is not only magnificent but, as was Alexander in Pliny's story, also magnanimous, as well. Ultimately, these readings of the Birth of Venus flatter not only the Medici and Botticelli but all of Florence, home to the worthy successors to some of the greatest figures of antiquity, both in governance and in the arts. [46] The iconography of Venus is certainly derived from the classic theme of Venus Pudica, covering her private parts shyly. In Florence, another important work of art is the translation in sculpture of the same theme: the famous Medici Venus at the Uffizi Gallery.Alicia du Plessis is a multidisciplinary writer. She completed her Bachelor of Arts degree, majoring in Art History and Classical Civilization, as well as two Honors, namely, in Art History and Education and Development, at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. For her main Honors project in Art History, she explored perceptions of the San Bushmen’s identity and the concept of the “Other”. She has also looked at the use of photography in art and how it has been used to portray people’s lives. It also points to the stylistic influences on Botticelli at the time, which we will discuss further below. Venus Adorned by the Graces (1590/1595) by Annibale Carracci; National Gallery of Art, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons The Golden Ratio as seen in The Birth of Venus (c. 1485) by Sandro Botticelli; Sandro Botticelli, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons The Birth of Venus was also painted within the context of the popular literature of the time, specifically that of Ovid’s Metamorphoses (8 AD), Homer’s writings, and Agnolo (Angelo) Poliziano’s Stanze per la Giostra (1478).