Many of us have heard about how fantastic the Renaissance was. the number of intellectuals there are. Some of the famous paintings at the time include the last supper, Mona Lisa, School of Athens, and the Birth of Venus (Nascita di Venere). The Birth of Venus portrays an idealized goddess, Aphrodite, from Greek mythology. The author of the painting, Sandro Botticelli, painted another famous renaissance and Greek mythology painting called la primavera as well.
Sandro Botticelli created The Birth of Venus in 1483 for Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco de’ Medici’s residence. The popular material, hardwood panels, was not used because of the humid climate in Venice; instead, he used tempera on canvas. The material tempura gives transparency to the painting because of the thin tempura. At that time, the canvas was becoming more popular among artists and was often used for decorating art pieces for the nobles. In addition, the price of the canvas is less than the wood material and canvas is perfect for the humid environment in Venice. The canvas is five feet eight over nine feet two. There are several symbolic elements in the painting.
The woman in the middle is Venus. To the Greeks, she is Aphrodite. She is the goddess of love and beauty. Artists consider her an idealized female. Aphrodite has participated in multiple stories in Greek mythology. Some of the famous ones include the Golden Apple, Odyssey, and the Birth of Aphrodite. The Birth of Aphrodite occurs when Cronus rebels against his father Uranus. Cronus throws some body parts of Uranus down to the ocean, and Aphrodite is born. Now she is riding a seashell to the island called Cyprus.
Every human created in this painting is a god or goddess. The god on the left is Zephyr the god of the west wind. In the Western, the west wind is known as the gentlest wind. At the same time, the woman he is holding is his wife, Chloris, the goddess of flowers. Both are blowing winds to Venus in the middle.
The goddess to the right of Venus is the seasons or the spring goddess. She is using a red coat to cover the nudity of Venus while her clothing symbolizes birth because of the flower. The myrtle on her neck represents prosperity and good luck. The flowers on her dress are all spring flowers which symbolizes birth as it is the first flower bloomed in the season. The tree behind her has gold highlights and creates a proportion.
In addition, the ocean has proportions as well because it goes from dark color in the foreground and blends to light color in the background. The shell Venus is on looks three-dimensional because of the shading and lighting.
The pose of Venus is contrapposto. It makes the figure rely on the weight on one leg and relax on the other (which is why it is bent). Many people consider that Botticelli took reference from the sculpture of Aphrodite called Capitoline Venus. In the painting, there is a brown line around Venus which creates a contrast between her pale skin and the dark line. In addition, Venus’s hair was popular in Italy’s late fifteen centuries.
In summary, the Birth of Venus is a fantastic painting. The amount of symbolism and the composition illustrate the prosperity of the Renaissance in the 14th century in Greek mythology. Furthermore, the painting can provide information and knowledge from the past.
