As one of the most well-known and studied artists of the Italian Renaissance, Sandro Botticelli changed many of the ideals of Renaissance painting. His devotion to the depiction of “the Beautiful” resulted in rhythmic and poetic art that has left realism and logic behind in the quest for divine beauty. Through abstraction and the divine, Botticelli “transposed onto a plane of pure spirituality where no distinctions or fine shades are any longer possible, where all values are balanced out and merged”, transcending the natural to show sublime images of divine beauty. This paper will examine two of Botticelli’s paintings of Venus, in the Birth of Venus (Fig.1) and in the Primavera (Fig.2), and will consider that the two pieces were created as sister works. Through analysis of ancient and Renaissance texts, it shows that the two paintings, when considered together, they show key concepts of Neoplatonic philosophy, specifically that of the two Venuses: Earthly and Heavenly. Both the Birth of Venus and Primavera add to a narrative that implies a physical manifestation of the derivation of divine beauty and love from Heaven to Earth.
In the Birth of Venus, Venus is painted nude in the center of the composition and she is standing in contrapposto, posing as the Venus pudica. The Venus Pudica pose means that the goddess’s hands are over her breasts and genital area, giving Venus an opportunity to poorly attempt to maintain some form of modesty, when in reality, the placement of Venus’s hands brings more attention to her nudity. Venus Pudica was a common pose among female nude sculptures of ancient greco-roman culture, as in the second century BCE Medici Venus (Fig. 3). The Medici Venus sculpture was in the collection of the Medici family, at the same time that Botticelli painted the Birth of Venus. As the Medici family were his supporters, Botticelli must have been familiar with the Medici Venus.
Marsilio Ficino, leader of the Florentine Platonic movement, describes the Florentine Neoplatonic conception of beauty in his Commentary on Plato’s Symposium on Love, as the “splendor of the divine goodness’ and the “act or ray from [the Good] penetrating through all things. He also writes that there is a constant circle of
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
This article writes at length about the discovery of the statue/sculpture of Venus de Milo of Aphrodite from Melos. Three perspectives are presented in the article firstly on how the statue was discovered and the speculations made by the experts and other artists about the sculpture and the other structures unearthed with or near the sculpture. Another perspective presented by Kousser is how the sculpture does not necessarily epitomize female beauty, but it represents Hellenistic classical art. The author highlights how the sculpture was actually setup at the
The main focus of the painting intended by Titian is a nude woman, Venus, looking straightforwardly at the audience. The young woman’s nipples are erect; with her left hand covers her pubic area, the sexuality of this painting is unquestionable. She is completely naked except for the ring on her little finger and the bracelet around her wrist. It is clear that the intention of this painting is to evoke sensual feelings in its audience.
One of the most famous painter and sculptors of the Italian Renaissance, the age of renewal and cultural achievement circa 1500, was the artistic genius Michelangelo Buonarroti. The man that desired nothing but perfection often reached it in his work. He captured the motion of the human figure and the anatomy of muscles in a way that was increasingly beautiful and startlingly realistic. Whether because of one of the most famous sculptures in history, “the David” or the paintings on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, that became the textbook examples for the art period of High Renaissance, Michelango’s art changed the world and he will continue to be studied with awe throughout history.
Italy can be looked at as the home of the renaissance and consequently the immergence of great art. Artists such as Michelangelo, Botticelli, Da Vinci, and Raphael are some of the greats and are looked at for standards. But what about the artists whose lives are mysteries, and their works that were influenced by the greats? These artists hold just as much importance in the history of art as do the artist’s whose names can be recalled off the top of an average person’s head. During the sixteenth century things began to change in the art world, and that change was the Baroque. This new style of art brought a revolution to how subject matter was painted, it brought upon “… a radical reconsideration of art and its purposes…” (249) and how artists of all ranks could learn to paint the up and coming style of Baroque.
The Venus of Willendorf was found in 1908 by a workman named “Johann Veran” (Selen). It was found by archeologists at a Paleolithic site. Here at the Naturhistorisches Museum in Vienna, Austria, we have the only authentic Venus Figurine (Naturhistorisches Museum Wien). The artifact’s purpose is still being speculated by many. But from what I can infer, the figurine was used a a maternal figure, and it shows the richness of female fertility.
The work of art that I have chosen to write about, is the Three Miracles of Saint Zenobius (1500-10). This painting is part of a bigger collection that depicts scenes from the life of Saint Zenobius. It’s sister pieces are spread out in different parts of the world, such places as, London, Dresden and New York itself. The painter of this entire collection is Sandro Botticelli (1445-1510) and he belongs to the Early part of the Renaissance. It is worth to note, that Botticelli was taught by Filippo Lippi. Fra Filippo Lippi was a prominent artist of his time and he painted his work with great color and as well with a narrative quality. Botticelli himself made a name for himself by his artistic style and to his contribution to painting the frescoes of the Sistine Chapel and even though his most notable work of art was the Birth of Venus that was created eighteen years prior to the Three Miracles, this piece of work takes a different approach than his other paintings. The painting itself resembles the Scenes from the life of Saint John the Baptist (1490/95) and it could be said that Botticelli was inspired by it.
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?
Venus is a term that has long been associated with artwork, most specifically the classical forms of beautiful women. The term Venus has also come to represent female sculptures of the Paleolithic era. The most notable of these female sculptures is the Venus of Willendorf, 24,000-22,000 BCE. The age of the figurine has been changed several times. Originally when found the date was estimated to be 15,000 to 10,000 BCE. During the 1970's the time period was adjusted to 25,000 to 20,000 BCE; the date was again recalculated in the 1980's to 30,000 to 25,000 BCE;
Venus of Willendorf shares many common features with the other figures from Venus series. They all have particularly pronounced gender features. Venus of WIllendorf and other Venus figures have large breasts, huge and massive genitals, and big buttocks. Another distinctive feature is the absence of the feet. The figures also don’t have facial features. The figures often have hair and lack hands. All figures are rather
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 of Urbino demonstrates a beautiful, young woman, Venus, lying nude on what appears to be a reclined couch or bed. However, the woman illustrated means much more than merely a nude woman. There have been many interpretations of this beautiful woman over the years but many art historians agree that the Venus of Urbino has to do unambiguously with the male sexual desire for the female nude body.
Twenty eight years after Giorgione’s death, as a close friend to him, Titian created another version of the reclining female nude, which is also one of the most famous female nude in art history - the Venus of Urbino in 1538. It was an oil painting on canvas, and now located at Uffizi gallery in Florence.
Florence, Italy. He left Florence in 1480 to help decorate the Sistine Chapel in Rome with some of his art which only the most famous painters of that time were invited to do. In 1482, Botticelli returned to Florence and shortly
The revival of antiquity allowed Greek and Roman influences to appear in Renaissance art as references to the ancient civilizations’ mythology or the reappearance of their architecture. Other characteristics of Renaissance art include humanism and realism. Humanism in art meant the depiction of more human-centered worlds or subjects, and the idea of human individuality (often expressed through portraitures or a broader exploration of the arts). Realism, otherwise known as naturalism, meant a new emphasis on the imitation of reality and the use of mathematical concepts, like the laws of perspective, to achieve that goal. Considering that Lorenzo Ghiberti’s The Gates of Paradise includes all three characteristics of Renaissance art: Greek and Roman antiquity, humanism, and realism, one can further deduce that The Gates of Paradise is a prime example of the prevailing art style of the Renaissance.