The Birth of Venus Anaylsis Essay

The art piece that I selected for my analysis is called The Triumph of Divine Love by Peter Paul Rubens. The artwork is an oil painting on canvas, circa 1625. This piece of art was commission by Isabella Clara Eugenia, Infanta of Spain and Portugal. The Triumph of Divine Love was one of eleven art pieces in a series portraying the Eucharist cycle, an important issue in the Catholic-Protestant strife. Its purpose was to aid in the Catholic Reformation and the artwork was to be displayed at the Convento de las Descalzas Reales in Madrid. (Ringling Museum n.d.)

This portrait was created in 1701 by the famous Rococo artist Hyacinthe Rigaud who was known in his time for being one of the leading portraitists of the European court. The subject of this portrait is Louis XIV whom ruled from 1643 to 1715 and was known to the people as the Sun King. Moving on, we are now viewing L'Indifférent which was created by Jean-Antoine Watteau in 1716. On its right is Jean-Antoine Watteau’s Pilgrimage to Cythera which is set on Cythera,the birthplace of the goddess of Love (Venus), a fantasy island of love and romance. The painting features beautiful pastel colors and a dreamy distant landscape. On the right of Pilgrimage to Cythera is Rosalba Carriera’s Young lady With a parrot. Young Lady with a Parrot was created in 1730 and it features a young woman with a porcelain-like face, cascaded by golden curls, and a full bosom that as y'all can see was revealed by her mischievous parrot. Next is Francois Boucher ’s Are They Thinking about the Grape? from the year 1747. As you can see it features a scene with a love-struck couple surrounded by delicate trees. The contrast between the couple’s rustic origins and their luxurious versions of country dress demonstrates Boucher’s ability to create a world suspended between fantasy and reality. Moving on, this is Francois Boucher’s Venus and Mars Surprised by Vulcan from the year 1754. This painting depicts

Sandro Botticelli’s Venus and Mars is a tempera and oil painting on poplar panel, illustrating a scene from the classical mythology story of Venus and Mars, who are engaging in a love affair with each other. The painting was made during the Renaissance, around 1485. It’s dimensions are 69.2 × 173.4 cm and it is currently located at The National Gallery in London, room 58 (Nationalgallery.org.uk, n.d.)

The two works of art that I have chosen is the painting The Birth of Venus by Sandro Botticelli and the poem Stanze per la Giostra by Angelo Poliziano. The Birth of Venus was created between 1484 and 1486 by Sandro Botticelli. It was created in the early Renaissance period and is currently located in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, Italy. Stanze per la Giostra was written between 1475 and 1478 by the Renaissance poet Angelo Poliziano. Its current location is the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, although it is currently not on display. The Birth of Venus and Stanze per la Giostra share many similarities as Stanze per la Giostra was Botticelli’s inspiration for creating The Birth of Venus. In The Birth of Venus, Botticelli has transformed Poliziano’s words into a beautiful work of art. These works of art share the theme of beauty. While Angelo Poliziano describes the beauty of the goddess Venus in his prose, Botticelli has captured her beauty with his delicate brush strokes. I will be comparing the theme of beauty between The Birth of Venus and Stanze per la Giostra as well as connecting it to contemporary standards of beauty.

The Venus of Willendorf is a sculpture that was sculpted out of limestone and stands to be 4 ½’’ tall. The figurine was most likely carved out of limestone because early pre-historic artists generally had to create art out of whatever materials they had available. The figurine is only 4 ½” tall is because it was common for pre-historic artists to carve small, hand held, portable figurines. The sculpture was found on the banks of the Danube River, an area where pre-historic hunter-gatherers were thought to have lived and traded goods with other civilians. The use of this piece of artwork is to portray the importance of women and fertility in pre-historic times because these features are ones that ensured the survival and future of mankind.

The halo looks to have been carved into the wood and then painted with a little bit of sun gold to heighten its appearance. The lesser portion of the painting has a dark brown color which might have being painted or made from a different type of wood. The base on which the painting stands is painted in dark brown and looks very firm. On the left and right of the arch there are blue colors meant to depict the skies filled with yellow stars. This depiction of the skies is said to be where God the Father resides. In the painting, there are three life like images that are clearly visible. The first one as illustrated in order of importance is God the Father who sits on his thrown that of a chair made from gold. His hair is long down to his shoulders; and he his fully garbed in a mixture of red, white and black being the dominant color. His garments are lined with gold colors and matches his long beard. God the Father hands are partially extended in front of him holding up a wooden cross which displays God the Son.

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.

I have chosen a famous oil on canvas painting: Venus and Cupid by Lorenzo Lotto made around the fifteenth and sixteenth century during the Italian Renaissance period. Overall, this piece is extremely intriguing to me, I cannot imagine how the artist created it with such detail and precision. Overall, this painting has this happy and positive mood, but it is also makes me curious as to what this painting is about. It also gives me this feeling to smile for Cupid and Venus in the painting, rather than with them, as there faces are conveyed as being happy together. Its colors similarly, just like the overall painting, has this beautiful bright and cheery color that seem to suit Venus and Cupid well.

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;

The subject matter of this piece is the Virgin Mary, the baby Jesus, the young Saint John the Baptist and the angels who are up in the clouds. The Virgin Mary is looking at baby Jesus with the love of a mother. We see her dressed in a long white dress and a long blue robe for cover. We see the baby Jesus wrapped in warm blankets seeming to be enjoying the closeness of his mother. We see the young Saint John the Baptist sitting off to the right wearing a sheepskin, with his hands together, most likely praying to the baby Jesus and the Lord himself. The young Saint John the Baptist is also followed by a young lamb. The angels are watching over the group on earth but enjoying each other’s company as well. We see the angel on the far right kissing the angel to the left of them on the head. The two angels to the far

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

Artemisia Gentileschi, Venus and Cupid, ca. 1625-30. Oil on canvas, 38 x 56 5/6 inches. Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, VA.

To the right of the painting is Nymph, also known as "The Hours", Greek goddesses of the seasons. She has on a very elegant dress and holds a robe out for Venus which is decorated with red and white daises, as well as yellow flowers of some sort, and blue cornflowers. These are all flowers of spring time which is appropriate for the theme of birth. The Nymph also wears garland which is also decorated with roses. The Nymph seems to be welcoming not only Venus, but the season of spring as well. This open arms welcome is very comforting to view.

nude goddess and depicted the same image in his painting The Birth of Venus (1482). This

The Birth of Venus (Nascita di Venere) is a painting done by Florentine artist Sandro Botticelli in 1486. The painting depicts the moment the goddess Venus first emerges from the waters of the sea and prepares to step onto the shore. Through linear techinques and artistic symbolism, the painting not only depicts the story and narrative of the goddess Venus’s birth but also seeks to exhibit the many different types of love and adoration which surround the creation of life.