Italian Renaissance (Birth of Venus)

“Birth of Venus” was made/ painted between 1482-1485 by Sandro botticelli who was a highly regarded painter in Italy during the renaissance . (https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=sandro+botticelli&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8). This painting became a landmark of the  XV century in Italian painting, it had rich meaning. The image of Venus was portrayed on a seashell, sitting naked on the seashore with the wind caressing her hair and roses showering her body. Venus's handmaid named Ora was waiting for Venus to get closer so she could dress Venus's shy body. "We can find clear references to the "Stanzas" , a famous poetic work by Angola Poliziano, a contemporary of Botticelli and the greatest Neoplatonic poet of the Medici court. Neoplatonism was the current thought at that time that tried to connect the Greek and Roman cultural heritage with Christianity." (“Birth of Venus by Sandro Botticelli at Uffizi Gallery in Florence.” Visit Uffizi, 4 June 2015, www.visituffizi.org/artworks/the-birth-of-venus-by-sandro-botticelli/#:~:text=The%20Birth%20of%20Venus%20is,and%20allegorical%20references%20to%20antiquity.) I found this painting beautiful and full of colors, the soft pink roses and rough edges of the shell should be contradictory but I feel like the way it was painted made it almost as if she was being born from the shell.  The painting was inspiring for me because it showed that your body is beautiful but also you don’t have to show it . Too often we as women are made to feel shame in our bodies but this reminds me that we should feel not only beautiful but also secure of ourselves and our own bodies. The meaning behind this painting was the birth of love, beauty, and fertility. Sandro botticelli was feeling joyful and celebratory, he had a deep admiration for the power of women. Women play a key role in bringing life into the world and loving it unconditionally. Looking at the painting, it was a little difficult to figure out what the painter was trying to say without looking at what the meaning behind the painting was. “It was highly probable that the work was commissioned by a member of the Medici family, although there is nothing written about the painting before 1550, when Giorgio Vasari describes it in the Medici's Villa of Castello, owned by the cadet branch of the Medici dynasty, in the account of the assonance between the family name and the orange tree, which at the time was 'mala medica'." (“The Birth of Venus by Botticelli.” Uffizi Galleries, 17 Sept. 2024, www.uffizi.it/en/artworks/birth-of-venus. ) This painting was made on canvas unlike one other painting by him called Allegory of spring which was painted on wood. I would probably not own a copy of this because even though it is a gorgeous painting I do not see myself owning it or putting it up in my own house. 

references 

“Birth of Venus by Sandro Botticelli at Uffizi Gallery in Florence.” Visit Uffizi, 4 June 2015, www.visituffizi.org/artworks/the-birth-of-venus-by-sandro-botticelli/#:~:text=The%20Birth%20of%20Venus%20is,and%20allegorical%20references%20to%20antiquity. 

“The Birth of Venus 

by Botticelli.” 

Uffizi Galleries

, 17 Sept. 2024, www.uffizi.it/en/artworks/birth-of-venus