Sandro Botticelli - Blog Posts

BIRTH OF VENUS /c. 1484-86/ SANDRO BOTTICELLI

The painting illustrates the birth of Venus, the goddess of love and beauty, as suggested by the title. She appears as a fully grown woman emerging from the sea, just as described in Ovid’s Metamorphoses. On the left side, you can see Zephyr and Aura, personifications of the winds, who have carried Venus to the shore.

Venus is portrayed as the epitome of Renaissance beauty, with her golden-red hair and fair skin. On the right, the Hora of Spring, who serves as Venus’s attendant, stands ready to cover the modest goddess. Venus stands on a scallop shell, her stance is in a classic contrapposto position, where she rests most of her weight on one foot, causing her upper body to twist slightly to a three-quarter view.

Botticelli's use of imagery is often thought to be influenced by Neo-Platonic ideas. According to this interpretation, Venus represents two aspects: her earthly side, which embodies physical beauty, and her heavenly side, which symbolizes intellectual beauty.

The "Birth of Venus" is thought to have been commissioned by Lorenzo de' Medici of Florence. The orange trees along the shore are the Medici family’s emblem. The painting itself is made up of two separate pieces that were stitched together before Botticelli began working on it.