BOTTICELLI  - THE BIRTH OF VENUS

Sandro Botticelli, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons 1485

-  Botticelli's most famous work, The Birth of Venus, depicts his supposed first love, Simonetta Cattaneo de Vespucci as his model.
- The painting was not named by Botticelli although the subject was always about Venus, the official name wasn't derived until the 19th-century.
- Many believe that the imagery was inspired by the poem Stanze per la Giostra written in 1475–8 by Angelo Poliziano, who also worked in the Medici court in Florence.
- Venus in Roman and Aprhodite in Greek is the central theme.

Blank canvas

- It was also unusual for the time because it was tempera painted on two pieces of canvas sewn together and treated with blue gesso, instead of painted on wood.
- Canvas worked well in humid regions where wood panels tended to warp although it was considered less formal.
- Commissioned by a member of the Medici's and as a novelty, it was most likely painted for a country home as a wedding gift to a newlywed couple from the Medici family.
- The painting resides in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, Italy.

Morning star

- The Bible frequently refers to Venus as the Morning Star (or Evening Star, depending on its position in the sky).
- This name comes from its bright, shining appearance as it rises before the sun in the morning or sets after sunset.

I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this testimony for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star. (Revelation 22:16)

Rebirth

- The Renaissance, a period marked by a rebirth of learning, art, and culture, originated in Italy during the 14th-century and spread across Europe.
- This era witnessed an unparalleled flourishing of the arts, supported largely by wealthy patrons like the Medici family in Florence.
- The Medici's influence in the Renaissance was profound, shaping the cultural landscape of the time and encouraging the revival of classical themes and styles in art.

Neoplatonic laurel wreath

- Botticelli didn't just paint graceful figures, he encoded Neoplatonic ideas about beauty as a reflection of the divine.
- The church may have ruled the surface, but beneath the brushstrokes, Renassance artists like Botticelli and DaVinci were part of a quiet revolution.
- A revolution that blended faith with philosophy combined with hidden knowledge into timeless masterpieces.
- The work is based on the Neoplatonic concept of love as life-giving energy as the driving force of nature.

Lush garden

- For example, Botticelli's Primavera appears as a lush garden with elegant  figures draped in flowing robes, but look closer and you'll notice something unusual.
- Every element, from the positioning of the figures to the flowers under their feet.
- It's not just a scene about seasonal beauty, it carries an allegory, it's a carefully constructed allegory, steeped in the esoteric philosophies that interested Botticelli and his patrons.

Intertwined hands

- This was the divine harmony, love, wisdom and truth reflecting the celestial order of the comets.
- Even their intertwined hands mimic the interconnectedness of all things, a core belief in Hermetic thought.
- Here, Botticelli mixes pagan with Christian symbolism.
- Venus as both goddess and a representation of modesty and chastity, embodying the Neoplatonic idea of love as a cosmic force.

Queen of Heaven

- Romans knew her as the goddess Venus, while for the Greeks she was Aphrodite.
- Aphrodite derives from a predecessor: the Ancient Mesopotamian warrior goddess Ishtar, known as the Queen of Heaven.

Neoplatonic One

- This is an example of Botticelli's use of Neoplatonic philosophy, where Venus represents the ideal of divine beauty and love, a drive for life and spiritual enlightenment.
- Neoplatonism, which was discussed and written about in Lorenzo De Medici’s circle was based on the idea of the spiritual and the divine combining with the earthly and the physical.
- These were two radical opposites with the divine balancing the earthly desires and needs.

She stands tall and naked at the centre of the canvas, looking ethereal and luminous. She seems to draw all attention to herself; a symbol of beauty, who is both physical and spiritual. If you believe the neoplatonic philosophers, contemplating her beauty is a way to elevate the human spirit and get closer to the divine. (lovefromtuscany.com)

Physical beauty with humility

- These became the ideal of female beauty during the Renaissance; the combination of physical beauty with humility, purity with desire, delicacy with strength.
- The goddess Venus entwined these opposites of sensual with the pure.

The balance of Venus is also presented through the colours that add sereneness. Her posture almost defies gravity. The entire scene is constituted to be fantastical – otherworldly, beyond the grasp of human elements and almost evanescent. This is to say that beauty is not restricted to earthly needs. (bibliophiliaforever.wordpress.com)

Classical culture

- Botticelli depicted the leaning figure of Venus in his painting as Ecclesia (the Church).
- The painting embodies the humanist ideals of the Renaissance, which emphasized human potential and the value of classical culture.
- To those initiated in the pagan rites, her pose mirrors statues of Aphrodite from antiquity, but Botticelli layers Christian and esoteric meaning into her form.
- This was more than artistry, it was visual instruction for those initiated into the hidden philosophies of the age.

Venus, anxious for her son’s affairs, New counsels tries, and new designs prepares. (Virgil, The Aeneid)

Ripple of water

- The painting holds a mesmorizing secret, it isn't just about the goddess emerging from the sea, this iconic painting is a visual hymn to ancient mystery traditions.
- A coded masterpiece where every ripple of water, and every falling flower carries weight.
- Venus stands on her shell not merely as a figure of beauty, but as a symbol of Neoplatonic 'divine emanation.'
- This is the belief that all creation flows from a single, sacred source. 

The painting's serene beauty, harmonious palette, and ethereal atmosphere have inspired countless artists and admirers over the centuries. (Assistant)

 

Blossoms

- The flowers in the painting symbolize birth and spring, and include roses, orange blossoms, daisies, blue cornflowers, and yellow primroses.
- Roses are falling from the sky and are associated with Venus' birth according to legend because out of the foam came white roses.
- The nymph on the right is also depicted with a dress embroidered with daisies, cornflowers, and primroses, all spring flowers signifying birth.

Fallen angel

- A ‘fallen angel’ motif representing Leonardo can be found in the painting and was a reference that ties to Botticelli's Venus and Mars painting where the three small figures are teasing and taunting Mars, known as Leonardo DaVinci, the damned man.
- The piece was controversial because it was the first secular painting to depict nudity.

Venus is Aphrodite

Newly-born goddess

- The focal point of this painting is the figure of a newly-born goddess standing in a giant scallop shell that emerged from the sea.
- 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 a seashell and sea foam to the island of Cythera.
- In the painting we see here, Venus, who has coppery blonde hair, is prominently depicted in the center, born out of the foam who landed on a grassy beach.
- Notice that the landscape is rather dark and Venus, the 'Gothic ivory' creates the light.

Simply beautiful

- Botticelli paid much attention to her hair and hairstyle, which reflected his interest in the style women wore their long hair in the late 15th-century.
- The way her hair cascades like liquid gold isn't just artistic flair, it echoes descriptions of the goddess in ancient Orphic Hymns where her radiance was said to illuminate hidden wisdom.
- Venus has an idealized face which is simply beautiful and remarkably free of blemishes.
- Her face is shaded to distinguish the shadow of the sun and Botticelli used gold leaf to add highlights to her hair.
- The sash in her hair has the symbolic value of binding together and uniting, alluding to a bond.
- In Botticelli's Primavera we see another side of Venus as she is no longer virginal, but pregnant with spring.

Touched by gold

- You can see faint lines of gold used in other sections of the painting including the highlights of the wings, or the stems and leaves of the roses, and the tree trunks.
- Unfortunately, you can only see the gold when viewing the actual painting.

Back in Medieval times, gold leaf was used to give an otherwordly quality to the art. You also have to take into account the fact that it was seen in dim churches, lit by candles. The ability of a painting to reflect light was rather important. (baffledtimetravel.com)

Zepherus and Chloris/Flora

Zepher and nymph

- On the left is the winged wind god Zephyr (Zephyrus) and his female peer who are blowing the wind to guide Venus to shore symbolizing the breath of life and the gentle force of love.
- She called out to Zephyrus, husband and keeper of the west wind, asking him to blow away the clouds in the sky so that Apollo might allow the sun to cast down its warming rays.

Aura

- Art historian Giorgio Vasari claimed that this figure represents Aura, a personification of a 'lighter breeze' blowing at her.
- Aura who clasped Zephyrus close to herself on one side in one of the hours.
- She was a virgin-huntress who was excessively proud of her maidenhood and she had motions as swift as the wind.
- Aura lived in the woods and dedicated herself solely to fighting wild boars and lions averse to carnal love and seduction.
- She never had any contact with Zephyrus but suffered violence from Dionysus.
- Which makes it more probable that it was not Aura, but Chloris, welcoming the goddess Venus, an analogy with the flowers in the spring.

You would call the foam real, the sea real, real the conch shell and real the blowing wind; you would see the lightning in the goddess's eyes, the sky and the elements laughing about her; the Hours treading the beach in white garments, the breeze curling their loosened and flowing hair; their faces not one, not different, as befits sisters. (Poliziano's la Giostra, Stanza 100)

Watery west wind

- The wind gods blowing Venus toward shore, aren't just decorative.
- They represent spiritual winds of change, the invisible forces guiding the soul toward enlightenment.
- Zepharus was famed for bringing warm, moist air to the Mediterranean in spring, thus bringing the first crops on after the winter.

Chloris flowers

- Aura has also been identified as the nymph Chloris, who was known to the Romans as Flora, associated with flowers, spring, and new growth, also known as the goddess of flowers.
- Chloris, representing the physical act of love, is in the arms of Zephyrus, the west wind, who has captured her.

Wedding

- After Zephyrus succeeds in taking her for his own, they are married and Chloris transforms into Flora, the Spring goddess.
- Here, Flora is depicted throwing flowers that have been gathered in her dress which symbolizes both springtime and fertility and they are floating down to Venus.
- Botticelli also depicted Chloris/Flora blossoming in Primavera.

Horae

Hora of spring

- On the right there is a female figure holding out a lavish cloak or dress to cover the nude Venus when she reaches the shore.
- She is offering Venus a cloak of dignity adorned with flowers, symbolizing the arrival of spring and new life.
- This is the embodiment of one of the three Horae or Hours, minor Greek goddesses of the seasons and the floral decoration of her gown suggests she is the Hora of Spring.
- The 'hours' were three sisters who symbolized the regular flow of time and the alternating events of the seasons.

Hora floating

- Hora may be floating above the ground.
- The robe she extends isn't just clothing, it's a shroud, a veil of initiation.
- In mystery traditions, covering and revealing symbolize the cycles of concealment and revelation.
- The idea that truth must be earned through spiritual pursuit.

Looking deeper

- Botticelli didn't paint this as a scene for passive admiration, he painted a roadmap, a fusion of pagan devotion and Renaissance esotericism.
- A scene where every detail hinted at rituals long forgotten by the masses, but kept alive by those who dared to look deeper.

Thallo

- Beyond the seasons, the Horae also embodied concepts of order, justice, and peace in both nature and human society.
- While sometimes depicted as a group of three, their specific names and roles varied, but often included Thallo (Spring), Auxo (Summer), and Carpo (Autumn/Harvest).
- Thallo was later called Flora by the Romans.
- They were frequently portrayed as beautiful young women carrying the fruits and flowers associated with the seasons they represented and were known to guard the gates of Mount Olympus.

Buttercup

- The Horae ruled over time and were Venus' attendants.
- Her mantle is embroidered with icons of daisies, primroses and buttercups.
- Daisies symbolize youthful innocence, free from guilt, sin and corruption as well as matched feeling.
- They're also a hymn to conjugal love through the voice of daisies and a symbol of requited feeling
- The primrose is a symbol of youth and the buttercup represents beauty and is associated with a somewhat melancholy charm.

Florence textiles

Flag lady

- Simonetta Cattaneo de Vespucci who was the role model for Venus was nicknamed la bella Simonetta ('the fair Simonetta').
- She was an Italian noblewoman from Genoa, the wife of Marco Vespucci of Florence and the cousin-in-law of Amerigo Vespucci who America was named after.

Scallop

- The scallop shell represents fertility rituals and honors femininity and has significant spiritual meaning, often symbolizing pilgrimage, transformation, and rebirth.
- In Roman times the scallop shell was often a symbol for the genitals of a woman.
- It is not only the shell, the mollusk, the oyster and its pearl, but also the female sexuality and in Christianity means rebirth, resurrection and spiritual purification.
- Notice that many churches have baptismal fonts shaped or adorned like a conch shell.
- It's a powerful emblem associated with the Camino de Santiago, representing the pilgrim's journey, guidance, and interconnectedness.

Cosmic womb

- The shell is also a recurring symbol in alchemy and Hermetism.
- Far from a simple seashell, it mirrors the cosmic womb, the Vesica Piscus, a sacred geometric shape representing the intersection of heaven and earth.

He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. (Matthew 11:15)

Life force

- The scene takes place where the four elements of matter as understood by the ancients are found; water (sea), air (breath of Zephyrus), earth (on which Flora stands) and fire which is represented metaphorically by Venus' flaming hair.
- Not only representing love and beauty, the elements emphasize the balanced order that brings harmony to the world.

Venus Pudica

Classical subject matter

- Her figure was modeled after an Aphrodite statue, such as the Aphrodite of Knidos also known as Venus Pudica, in which the goddess attempts to cover herself in a gesture of modestly.
- The classical subject matter was something that would have intrigued wealthy Florentines who patronized this type of work.
- It would not have appealed to everyone, however, like the working class who viewed the worldly behavior of the ruling Medici family as corrupt or vile.

Shame and guilt

X-rated Adam

Paradox and enigma

Study of anatomy

Sea water

- The sea is a symbol of birth and transformation, representing Venus' origin and the beginning of her existence.
- In essence, The Birth of Venus is a celebration of beauty, love, and the rebirth of classical ideals in the Renaissance period.
- Venus, according to the Greek poet Hesiod who wrote the Theogony, was born out of sea foam.
- According to the Greek lyric poet Anacreon, the white rose first sprang forth during the birth of Aphrodite.

For Plato – and so for the members of the Florentine Platonic Academy – Venus had two aspects: she was an earthly goddess who aroused humans to physical love or she was a heavenly goddess who inspired intellectual love in them. Plato further argued that contemplation of physical beauty allowed the mind to better understand spiritual beauty. (Wikipedia)

Blood red rose

- A second rose-scented tale of Aphrodite involves her lover, Adonis, and the myth of how the rose turned red.
- One day, Adonis was out hunting boar. Ares, jealous of Adonis, had secretly sent the wild boar to harm him.
- At the last moment, Ares shares this knowledge with Aphrodite, who rushes to warn him.
- As she hurries to her lover’s aid, she scratches herself on a rose bush, splashing speckles of blood on their soft white petals, turning the blossoms red.

Rose-cheek'd Adonis tried him to the chase; Hunting he lov'd, but love he laugh'd to scorn; Sick-thoughted Venus makes amain unto him, And like a bold-fac'd suitor 'gins to woo him. (Shakespeare, Venus and Adonis)

Sea Anemone

- Unfortunately, Venus is too late to the scene, and Adonis perishes from a fatal wound to his thigh.
- As Aphrodite cries over her lover’s body, her tears fall into the pools of blood surrounding them, and the mixture gives rise to the anemone flower.
- With such a strong relationship to blood, it is easily understood how the red rose would later be used to honor the martyrs of Christendom.

Seeds spring from seeds, and beauty breedeth beauty; Thou wast begot; to get, it is thy duty. (Shakespeare, Venus and Adonis)

Watery female

- Roman theology presents Venus as the yielding, watery female principle, essential to the generation and balance of life.
- Her male counterparts in the Roman pantheon, Vulcan and Mars, are active and fiery.
- Venus absorbs and tempers the male essence, uniting the opposites of male and female in mutual affection.

Planet Venus

- The planet Venus is generally described as appearing yellowish-white or pearl white with a slight yellowish tinge when viewed from Earth.
- This is due to its thick atmosphere of carbon dioxide and sulfuric acid clouds, which are highly reflective and obscure the planet's surface.
- Second planet from the Sun.
- Scientists theorize that Venus fell victim to a runaway greenhouse effect; excess carbon dioxide trapping solar heat under the blanket of its atmosphere.

Because Venus’s orbit is nearer the Sun than Earth’s, the planet is always roughly in the same direction in the sky as the Sun and can be seen only in the hours near sunrise or sunset. When it is visible, it is the most brilliant planet in the sky. Venus is designated by the symbol ♀ (Britannica)

Simple as could be

- This is mythological scene, more than it's real life.
- Botticelli was never much into deep perspective in his paintings the way Leonardo was, so as a result, his landscapes were never very detailed.
- His paintings had a beautifully simple almost cartoon feel to them with crisp lines and bright colors.
- However, the roses drifting down aren't random because in mystery cults, they symbolized secrecy.
- Their petals hinting at truths only revealed to those deemed worthy.

Landscapes

- The composition, with its flowing lines and harmonious balance, showcased Botticelli’s mastery of form and movement.
- Botticelli was quoted as saying he didn’t like painting landscapes, and that “by throwing a sponge soaked with different colors at a wall, one can make a spot in which a beautiful landscape can be seen.”

Bitter orange trees

- The painting depicts the world of the imagination rather than being very concerned with realistic depiction.
- The bitter orange trees at right refers to the name Lorenzo who was Lorenzo de’ Medici, ruler of Florence, better known as il Magnifico.
- Fruit can be seen among the orange blossoms.

Orange blossom

Iron maiden

Rose leaves and buds

- The myrtle, also called laurel, is another symbol of Venus, and is worn in a wreath around the neck of her attendant Hora and on her waist silks of roses.
- The presence of laurel is also associated with Lorenzo de’ Medici who made the trunk of the laurel, symbolizing eternal life and victory, his personal emblem after hearing a passage from Virgil.
- This is alternated with roses, a symbol of love, the plants sacred to Venus.

Virginal seed

- Although the entire scene is filled with flowers, the presence of fruit is just a promise of Zephyrus' winds.
- Additionally, there are no birds or animals or even butterflies in the scene.
- This represents the virginal seed that is planted and was represented in a series of paintings by Botticelli including Primavera.

Divine fruit

- The painting it is also showing a divine place where animal species rank too low in the Ficinan supernatural hierarchy from the theory that originally created life in the cosmos if only on a symbolic level.
- Philosopher Marsilio Ficino revised the thought of Plato in a Renaissance perspective and conceived the universe as a hierarchy of substances that descends from God to matter.
- Ficino believed that love is the foundation of the cosmos since through it creation takes place.

Bitter orange

-  The varieties of citrus fruit attributable to the Medici era were the bitter orange, the citron from Florence, the limoncello from Naples and the Adam's apple.
- The Romans loved all citrus fruits, but especially oranges, the symbolic fruit of the Medici family.

Cyprus

The demand for this type of scene, of course, was humanism, which was alive and well in the court of Lorenzo d’Medici in the 1480s. Here, Renaissance humanism was open not only to the use of a pagan sculpture as a model, but also a pagan narrative for the subject matter. (italianrenaissance.org)

Delicate thumb

- Venus thumb is obviously a thumb, but some wonder if the painting is an early form of porn.
- Which would lead them to question how 'pure' or 'chaste' she was.
- This painting has a secret history that infers there is something much more going on with her sexuality.

Tyrannical power

- The original myth of Aphrodite further propels this mystery as she was born from a violent act of emasculation.
- Aphrodite rose from the foam which formed from her father, Uranus' genitals after the god Cronus (Saturn) had 'cut them off and thrown them into the sea.'
- She could be interpreted as symbolizing the feminine good which comes from the overthrowing of masculine tyrannical power.
- In the Homeric Hymns, Aphrodite took on the active role of sexual pursuits so she was definitely bending gender roles.

Gender role

- It is also important to understand how gender roles and sexuality were perceived in the 15th-century.
- Some three and a half centuries after Botticelli painted Birth of Venus the categories of ‘male’ and ‘female’ were clearly defined as opposites.
- Which could further position ‘woman’ as the oppressed sex as was the model promoted by the Old Testament.
- Gender roles are much more strictly defined today than in the 15th-century.
- Donatello’s David, which was painted 45 years before Birth of Venus, reveals how gender and sexuality were perceived.

Bulrushes

- The clumps of bulrushes in the left foreground are out of place here, as they come from a freshwater species.
- This plant is also called Typha (cattail) and some of their stems are broken.
- Leonardo DaVinci's Baptism of Christ also has a bulrush depicted in the bottom left corner of the painting.
- Botticelli's Venus has often been compared to DaVinci's Christ because of the partial nudity of the central figure and two individuals stationed on the left and one on the right.

Typha branches bent

- The imagery of bulrushes in the Bible often conveys themes of survival, adaptability, and the sustaining power of God amidst challenging circumstances.
- We see Tyhpa gently swaying in Zephyrus' breeze and it is a marsh weed and is clearly a phallic symbol.
- It implies the coming fertilization to generate fruit to fill the earth with life.
- Interestingly, some stems appear bent or broken indicating that not everyone will have the synergy with the goddess of love and fertility.

Common names: Reeds, pencil reeds. Location: Marshes, shorelines, sand and gravel bars, shallow waters up to 8 feet deep. Hardstem bulrush grows on firm bottoms; softstem bulrush grows on mud bottoms. (Assistant)

Mari-gold

- The painting was not universally admired when it was first unveiled.
- In fact, it sparked controversy and debate, challenging societal norms and provoking both admiration and criticism.
- Art during this time often had religious themes and Biblical stories, saints, and Christian virtues were the subjects of choice for many artists.

Fine line

- While classical themes were being rediscovered, their incorporation into art had to tread a fine line.
- Venus was a pagan goddess, representing love, beauty, and sensuality, concepts that could be seen as contrary to Christian teachings about chastity and modesty.

Speculum Veneris

On fire

- The controversy surrounding the painting became even more pronounced with the rise of Girolamo Savonarola, a Dominican friar who preached against the moral decay of Florence.
- Savonarola condemned the Medici and their patronage of art that he saw as vain, secular, or indulgent.

Zealot in his image

- Savonarola called for a return to strict Christian values and led the infamous Bonfire of the Vanities on Shrove Tuesday in 1497, where 'immoral' books, artworks, and luxury items were burned.

Scorched twin

- Savonarola was the prototype of the wild-eyed, hellfire and brimstone religious extremist.
- He took control of Florence, expelling the famed Medici family, preaching of the dangers of pleasure.

Tamed

- After Botticelli painted his Birth of Venus a religious turn in Florence began to condemn pagan and sexual imagery.
- As a result, Boticelli’s later works moved away from his depictions of Greek mythology towards religious imagery and Venus was transformed from an erotic image of sex and desire to the sacred image of the Madonna.

Like wasting fire her senses wild among. (Percy Bysshe Shelley, Homer's Hymn to Venus)

World influence

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