The Birth Of Venus Sandro Botticelli

Tiziano Vecellio, also documented, as Titian was an Italian painter. He was born sometime around 1470-1480, his exact date of birth is unclear and he died of a fever during the plague around 1576. Titian was one of the furthermost adaptable Italian painters during the High Renaissance. Titian was equally proficient with portraits, landscape backgrounds and mythological and religious subjects. Consequently, Titian was one of the furthermost important members of the sixteenth century Venetian school and he is still an overwhelming influence on the art world. Often times, Titian is described as the first artist to have an international career. Titian’s painting career was prosperous from the start but over the course of this prolonged life, his style changed drastically and he retained a permanent interest in color, which is well defined in his painting Venus of Urbino.

The visual work I have chosen is the Bith of Venus and is one of the world’s most famous works of art. Painted by Sandro Botticelli between 1482 and 1485, it is the first example of painting on canvas. The written work I have chosen is the Stanze per la Giostra. It was written by Angelo Poliziano, written between 1475-8. Both works are examples from the Italian Renaissance era, during the Medici rule, and share the theme of beauty and humanism. The works I've selected share the same subject matter, Venus, and is the perfect example of beauty and humanism. She is the epitome of beauty and her birth from the sea is an example of her metamorphosis of humanism. For this paper, I will compare both works then discuss how the shared theme is seen in contemporary works. How does Venus and her beautiful metamorphosis fit into contemporary forms of beauty and humanism?

One artist from the time, who was very popular for his reclining nudes was Giorgione (1477-1510) who painting Venus Resting, which was thought to have been left unfinished and the landscape to have been painted by Titian. The venus was originally meant to be accompanied by a cupid which has been painted out due to damage done to the painting, the cupid would have acted as a mediator between the goddess and the spectator (Chicago and Lucie-Smith,

Venus of adonis was painted by Tiziano Vecellio and dates back to A.D 1400-1600. He was one of the greatest italian renaissance painter and he was recognized as a great painter early in his life. He was a master of the oil medium and a supreme colorist. Many of his paintings represent either religion, antiquity and/or beauty. In his painting of Venus and Adonis it was inspired by a tale called Ovid’s Metamorphoses and therefore was called poetry in paint, also known as poesie (The MET). The painting portrays the goddess Venus has fallen in love with Adonis. The goddess Venus is trying to hold back Adonis because she does not want him leaving, since he is a hunter. While the goddess Venus is trying to hold Adonis back, his dogs are

The painting was made from 1484-1486.Botticelli made the Venus represent beauty and perfections. The things that show that are her long hair, nude feminine body, her long hair, which is covering her private part, and her long body parts, like arms, neck, legs, and her waist. Zephyrus, holding Chloris, they both blow Venus, whom is standing on a shell, towards Cyprus. The blowing also highlights the beauty of the Venus. A nymph called Pomona is expecting the Venus and prepares to cover the Venus with clothing. The story in the poem is that Venus was a Greek goddess that was born from sea foam and that she is blown to her sacred Island. Being made during the middle ages it was uncommon to see naked female. Botticelli actually had a model to make the Venus, he used Aphrodite of Knidos to get an idea of how to make her look as feminine as possible, being a nude

The Italian Renaissance brought forth many iconic pieces that we are familiar with in modern day culture. Sandro Botticelli painted one of the most recognized and appreciated works of art from that era, The Birth of Venus (1482-1485). It is currently being displayed at the Galleria degli Uffizi in Florence, Italy. The piece depicts a nude Venus, the goddess of love, elegantly standing upon a seashell on the shore. The painting is thought to have been inspired by Ovid’s Metamorphoses as well as Angelo Poliziano’s poem “Stanze per la Giostra” (1475-1478).

The Birth of Venus by Sandro Botticelli was painted between 1482 and 1485 (UFFIZI, n.d.). Commissioned by the Medici family, it depicts Venus floating on a seashell. To her right is Zephyrus, God of Winds, with Aura. To her left is Horae, Goddess of the Seasons, waiting to receive her with a flower embroidered robe. In the Roman myth, Venus was conceived when the god Uranus was castrated by his son Titan Cronus and his severed genitals fertilized the sea. The scene in The Birth of Venus depicts the moment that Venus emerges from the sea in a seashell and lands at Paphos in Cyprus. For the painting, Botticelli was inspired by a few verses of poetry by humanist and Renaissance poet, Agnolo Poliziano, which describe the myth of Venus' birth (Corsini, 1998, p.5). The direct inspiration from a piece of Renaissance poetry, another form of art, relates to how similar ideas and formal organizations existed in both architecture and the allied arts of the Italian Renaissance. The verses read:

Venus in front of the Mirror by Peter Paul Rubens 1615 painting, which displays Venus’s body, the presence of the mirror, jewelry, and the mimics of her face, shows that she examines her beauty. Apparently the puffy body, rose cheekbones, almond shaped eyes, and the golden hair is the ideal beauty to Rubens, the body nudity and Cupid employment not vain, they symbolize attraction, and youth, since Cupid is a God of desire. Furthermore, the features of Venus in the mirror are completely different from the back side; in the mirror, she seems that she appreciates her beauty, but if we cover the mirror and see her face from behind, her features appear sad, anxious, and in a self-defense situation.

On the left side of the painting, Venus is resting her arm on a red cushion, watching her lover sleep. She appears very composed and in control of her body; in contrast to Mars who seems lost in a different world and in a very relaxed pose. She is fully clothed, whereas Mars in naked and only partially covered by a small white cloth. Botticelli portrays Venus as a beautiful, young woman in contemporary clothing. Her dress consists of multiple layers of thin, white fabric which appears sheer in places e.g. her legs. The way in which the bodice draws attention to and accentuates her curves, emphasizes her physical and sexual desirability (Rubin, 2000). Her braids are arranged in a complex hairstyle and are clasped together

Both artworks of raphael and botticelli’s does have a unique similarly from the concept. But there is a different between them that have a little touch from each other. In the text is say that the piece that raphael made of galatea celebrate the sensuality of the pagan sprit as it were a living force comparing is work and botticelli’s the birth of venus (pg.541), both going for the composition of nude female on the seashell. Surely both have the same concept but botticelli’s originally came up with it before raphael take the idea and made his own form of style. With the resemblance, it only serves to emphasize their profound differences, as raphael figures are vigorously sculptural and arranged in a dynamic spiral movement around galatea twisting

Both of these works were created during the Italian Renaissance. Birth of Venus during the Early Renaissance when Humanist and Neoplatonic ideas were emerging and Galatea during the High Renaissance when those ideas were already in full swing. During the Renaissance there was a greater sense of self and although Christianity was still a major part of society not all art depicted Christian subjects. It was a time of civic pride, reminiscent of the Athenian republic under Pericles, where wealthy patrons would commission work from artists to adorn their churches and personal properties. Both of these works are examples of that. Birth of Venus was believed to be commissioned for the wealthy De' Medici family and Galatea for the wealthy Agostino

They thought the documentaries on mythology were vile and the cartoons were humorless. He says the meeting came to a halt when Venus ran in crying as if her heart was broken, and explained in-between sobs, Botticelli had made a mockery of her. His work of art had her standing in a large clamshell and her hair looked simply awful. Venus pleaded for the Gatekeepers to airbrush it. He tells me the painting has been fixed. I used his phone, typed in Botticelli, pulled up the painting, and saw a stylish coiffure Venus standing on a beach gazing at sea foam; I gave him his phone back. My mental equilibrium isn’t normal; I gulp more

Botticelli was able to master these techniques due to being taught by another prominent Renaissance artist, Filippo Lippi. First, there is a lot of detail. For example, there are hundreds of different types of flowers and leaves in the meadow. Upon looking closely at the clothing of the different characters, one can see the immense detail used by Botticelli in the tassels and fabric of the clothing. Furthermore, the flower detail connecting Flora to Chloris is a small detail that has a deeper emblematic meaning. The standing positions of characters give off a vibe of elegance and grace to viewers; according to Dr. Harris an Art Historian from Khan Academy, "She (Venus) tilts her head to one side and holds up her drapery and motions with her hands and looks directly at us," (Harris). The position of Venus is very elegant and inviting to viewers. Also, Botticelli portrayed the subject matter in a naturalistic way, a common convention of the Renaissance. Botticelli paid attention to the canon of proportions or the standard for symmetry of the face and body as evidenced by the similarities between the La Primavera and other Renaissance paintings, all of which depict the standards of beauty of the time or what was ideal beauty. Formally speaking, Botticelli went against the conventions of the

From Pollaiuolo creator of the engraving Battle of the Nudes to Michelangelo's David the human form was not about reality but idealism the ultimate portrayal of God's ultimate creation. This perfected view of the human form can also be seen later in Da Vinci's Vitruvian Man and Michelangelo's muscular figures whether male or female. Humanism’s affects did not stop there. The topics of paintings also began to change. Botticelli’s Primavera and The Birth of Venus depict this change clearly. Both show mythological themes. The focus on these themes inspired Raphael and Titan to develop their famous pieces as the early Renaissance became the High Renaissance. From here interesting occurrences began to evolve. Humanism itself develops a new school of thought known as Neo-Platonism; an idea that mixes ancient philosophy and Christian truth. For example, the reaction to Botticelli's creations was that of others trying to find a religious meaning within the mythological topic. Slowly however, even this will fade as the Mannerist style develops. Along with the movement toward secular and eventually erotic portrayals of art the artist began to enjoy a new status. Duke explains that they became “practitioners of the high-status liberal arts” someone to be sought after, someone to study and someone to stand in awe of. Humanism’s affect spread north but there

Venus in Botticelli's painting is a Renaissance beauty. During the Renaissance women were believed to look more attractive if they had some weight to them. It