Venus Botticelli Analysis

Botticelli draws on Renaissance perceptions of beauty by making Venus represent the ideal Renaissance woman who is thin, pale, and curvy. Botticelli also exaggerates the lengths of her neck and leg in order to bring the viewer’s attention to her beautiful features, which are perfect and cant really exist. For example, Venus is seen to be standing at the tip of the shell which is impossible since she would have fallen, the painting uses the perception of beauty to create a more mythological and fantasy which creates Venus to be more desirable as every mans ideal women. Botticelli also made Venus seen as ideal women by covering her body with her hair and hands showing that she was a virgin which was a very desirable trait during the renaissance

The Mazarin Venus at the Getty has been restored extensively. Scholars believe the head actually belonged to another ancient statue. Nevertheless, it is still a beautiful piece that demonstrates how the ancients viewed their gods. Venus has a beautifully proportioned and shapely figure. She has a lovely face, also classically proportioned, that is framed by curls. Her hair cascades down her back and falls over one shoulder. She gazes off to the side. She is graceful and elegant, showing herself with neither boldness nor undue modesty. She represents the female ideal of her times. Her beauty mirrors the beauty of love. The Greek sculptor who originally created the figure and the Roman sculptor who copied it did

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?

The works of Sandro Botticelli are among the most revered of renaissance painting. The sweeping curves of his women and the ethereal beauty of their gazes are recognized instantaneously: from a grandmother in a small town to the cognoscenti of New York or Paris, few can claim to be unmoved by his work. Patronized by the Vatican as well as one of the most rich and powerful Florentines of his time, Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco de' Medici, Botticelli was hugely popular in his own day. His most magnificent work, the Primavera, as well as The Birth of Venus, Camilla and the Centaur, and Mars and Venus contain entirely mythological figures whose significances have been debated by various art historians for centuries.

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

Titian’s Venus of Urbino, currently placed in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence is one the most famous mythological nature Renaissance painting. This oil on canvas, life size painting of Venus of Urbino, is an “iconic version of reclining female nude,” from the Venetian Renaissance Period. This painting is an influenced artwork of Giorgione’s Sleeping Venus (later completed by Titian’s himself after Giorgione’s death.), which represented an idealized beauty and harmony in the majestic sleeping pose of a Goddess. This bold approach to the depiction of female sensuality by a leading Venetian painter of the cinquecento led to the citation of this painting as an origin of many other Western art’s

William Shakespeare's play Macbeth portrays man as a species controlled by one's inner thoughts, greed and ultimately hubris. Mankind is often fueled by desire to acquire more, with little regard to possible negative or evil outcomes. When faced with an uncertain prophecy, Macbeth allows greed to overpower conscience, and ultimately allows malevolent powers within himself to dictate and lead to his demise. Shakespeare personifies the witches- supernatural beings with no agenda, feared greatly during the creation of Macbeth as the evil embedded within human nature, and characterizes them as vile “hags” and “fiends,” as well as employing pathetic fallacy to establish the tone and atmosphere as dark, with “thunder and lightning,” and doom

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

Also known by the titles "Venus, Cupid, Folly, and Time" and "A Triumph of Venus", this painting was on purpose designed as a complex, erotic allegory that includes an extent of iconographic symbols from the ancient world of mythology. It was a present from Cosimo de Medici to King Francis I of France. Being rich and vivid in symbolism relating to the constituting ideas of the High Renaissance, the painting gives Bronzino the opportunity to establish his maestro figure painting and portrait art. Through personification of qualities and varying contrast and brightness, Bronzino is able to justify that personal gains outweigh anything and everything that is moral.

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

Canvas also cost less than wood, but it was also considered to be less formal, which made it more appropriate for paintings that would be shown in non-official locations. The theme of the Birth of Venus was taken from the writings of the ancient poet, Homer. According to the traditional account, after Venus was born, she rode on seashell and sea foam to the island of Cythera. In the painting we see here, Venus is prominently depicted in the centre, born out of the foam as she rides to shore. On the left, the figure of Zephyrus carries the nymph Chloris as he blows the wind to guide Venus. On shore, a figure that has been identified as the goddess of spring waits for Venus with mantle in hand. The mantle billows in the wind from Zephyrus’ mouth. Botticelli paid much attention to her hair and hairstyle. He gave Venus an idealized face, which is remarkably free of blemishes, and beautifully shaded her face to distinguish a lighter side and a more shaded side. Of obvious importance in this painting is the nudity

Artemisia Gentileschi’s Venus and Cupid is a painting of an angel caressing a woman resting on the bed. In actuality, the painting is about Venus, the Goddess of Love, who is asleep in a very luxurious and classical environment. While she is asleep, Cupid diligently wields a peacock-feathered fan to keep away pests, which makes the environment more safe and peaceful. Primarily strong contrasting lights and darkness display Gentileschi’s work, perhaps inspired by both her father and Caravaggio. Her paintings are all primarily bold compositions for example the

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

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.