Botticelli: The Birth of Venus

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Sandro Botticelli was an Italian painter of the Florentine school during the early renaissance. It is said that it was Botticelli’s belief that “objects of physical beauty move the soul to desire unity with God, divine fount of beauty and truth (Fiero, Gloria K).” It is my belief that Botticelli was triumphant in creating the most breath taking painting ever created, The Birth of Venus. This painting is the definition of beauty and needs to be saved for our future generations.
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The Birth of Venus was commissioned by Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco de’Medici for the villa of Castello. In Previous eras, the painter had a specific story to tell on a specific spot; however, in Botticelli’s case, he was commissioned to paint whatever he desired. So, he chose to stay in the typical ‘closed’ renaissance style—meaning figures are shown in full. Because of this the story was critical, and had to be expressed in complete accuracy and detail (Bertsch, Cole).

The Birth of Venus was completed in 1485 on Canvas, which was fairly unusual for its time. Most artists used more expensive wooden panels, but this approach was not practical for the technique needed. Botticelli used a paint made of thin tempera, based on the use of diluted egg yolk (Johnson, Mary), which gives the paint an aspect of extraordinary transparency, allowing the magnificent highlights and softness used in the painting.

The story of this art starts off by first already knowing the myth of where Venus came from. During the middle ages, legends of the creations of the world and all its inhabitants were restricted to the stories of the Bible, all other beliefs were taken with a grain of salt. The Renaissance however brought the wisdom of the Greeks and considered the myths to be invaluable information of the past. The Greeks had thought that when the titan Cronus castrated his father, the god Uranus, his genitals fell into the sea—enabling the fertilization of Venus (Bertsch, Cole).

From this story Botticelli depicts Venus being born from sea foam.  Standing naked on a pearlescent scallop shell, her right hand covers only her right breast, with long billowing hair to cover her pubic parts. Yet while looking at her, you start to wonder, “Have I seen this woman before?” Chances are you have. Botticelli never married; the popular view is that he suffered from unrequited love for Simonetta Vespucci, a married noblewoman that was coveted by many men. According to legend, she had served as the model for The Birth of Venus and reoccurs throughout his and others paintings, such as, Mars and Venus, La primavera, and Pallas Athena and the Centaur, to name a few (Niyazi, H).

Now as to who accompanies her on this canvas is debatable. On her right are two beings, a man and a woman, flying above the sea, blowing Venus westward towards the shores of Paphos on the island of Cyprus. While everyone agrees that the man is the Greek god of the west wind, Zephyrus, the girl he is holding remains unclear. Some say she is Chloris, a Nymph that is associated with spring and flowers, and wife of Zephyrus.  Others say she is the titan goddess Aura, who is a divine personification of breezes.

On the shore, a woman in a flowery dress is awaiting Venus with a pink robe like garment, ready to cover her up. It is spectated that this woman is Pomona, the goddess of fruit trees and fecundity (Fiero, Gloria K). Many say she the Horai goddess of springtime due to the abundance of flowers and springtime like nature of the painting, however, it is popular belief that she is merely a visual representation of the city of Florence, receiving Venus as a welcomed gift from the Gods.

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No matter who accompanies her, it is obvious that Venus is the center of attention, due to the fact that everything is angled towards her. The angle that the wind gods are positioned urges the eye to focus on Venus, as well as the way the robe seems ready to float onto her body. If separated from the rest of the painting and viewed solely, the movement of her body is enough evidence of her beauty and importance. Sculpted with very soft lines, the way her right foot dangles behind the other, and the way her arms move across her body, gives the impression of her innocence and elegance; separating her from the other figures. She is so beautiful that one tends to not even notice that Botticelli altered the nature of human anatomy. Venus has steep falling shoulders, and an unnaturally long neck —all to create a graceful harmonic outline (Bertsch, Cole). The uniqueness of this painting still receives wide scholarly attention even to this day.

This magnificent artwork wasn’t painted alone; it has a twin, La Primavera. Painted in 1482, before The Birth of Venus was created, it is meant to be placed in the same room. The two paintings together showed two parts of Venus.  In one, Venus has just been born, young and radiant, arriving on a shore where the fruit hasn’t yet been produced from the trees, and being welcomed by the world.  In the other, Venus is older and dressed in extravagant clothing, the trees are lush with flowers and fruit, and people are rejoicing. But, instead of being an object of beauty, she now represents love and marriage.  Even though both paintings are indeed breath taking, when placed side by side, you just can’t help but be drawn back to The Birth of Venus (Bowman, David).

We live in a world of death and violence; it constantly surrounds us. Without The Birth of Venus, how are we going to teach our children what the true meaning of love and beauty actually is? If we don’t preserve this gorgeous symbolic image of flawlessness, it would be stripping our society of all things that are incorrupt and harmonious, and that would be catastrophic.

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Citation

Bertsch, Cole. "The Birth of Venus." <em>Sauk</em><em> </em><em>Valley</em><em> </em><em>Community College</em><em> - Home</em>. Colebott. Web. 04 Apr. 2011. &lt;http://www.svcc.edu/academics/classes/murray/Ezine/colebott.htm&gt;.

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Bowman, David. "Birth of Venus and La Primavera Conjoined - Alternative View on Art, Architecture and Religion." <em>Alternative Information Newsletter - Alternative View on Art, Architecture and Religion</em>. 2008. Web. 10 Apr. 2011. &lt;http://www.aiwaz.net/article/Birth-of-Venus-and-La-Primavera-Conjoined/a115&gt;.

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Fiero, Gloria K. "Chapter 17. Renaissance Artists: Disciples of Nature, Masters of Invention Ca. 1400–1600." <em>The Humanistic Tradition</em>. 6th ed. Vol. 1. Boston: McGraw-Hill, 2011. B3.44+. Print.

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Johnson, Mary. "Botticelli." <em>Gilford Multimedia: Since 1972 South Jersey's Oldest Existing Ad Agency</em>. Web. 07 Apr. 2011. &lt;http://www.sohoart.com/botticelli.htm&gt;.

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Niyazi, H. "Simonetta Vespucci: a Renaissance Muse?" <em>Three Pipe Problem</em>. 26 Apr. 2010. Web. 07 Apr. 2011. &lt;http://www.3pipe.net/2010/04/simonetta-vespucci-real-life-muse-of.html&gt;.

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Image: http://www.gwennseemel.com/images/blog09/BotticelliBirthVenus.jpg

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