Venus Botticelli - the standard of beauty. Painting by Sandro Botticelli "The Birth of Venus": description, interesting facts

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

The Roman goddess of love and beauty Venus, as well as her Greek "sister" Aphrodite, has been sung by poets, sculptors and artists for many centuries. Myths about her have survived to this day, as well as many works of art in which she invariably embodied the ideal of female beauty. And one of the most famous masterpieces dedicated to her, of course, is the "Birth of Venus" by Sandro Botticelli. So what do we know about this painting?

Botticelli before "Venus"

Not everyone knows about this, but the author of the famous painting was a man named Alessandro Filipepi. He became Botticelli later, having received this nickname, translated from Italian meaning "barrel", after his older brother, who was distinguished by a fair amount of excess weight. The future great painter was born in Florence in 1445 in the family of a tanner and at first wanted to be a jeweler. However, after two years of studying with the goldsmiths, he chose to become an apprentice to the artist Fillippo Lippi. He stayed in his workshop for five years before he left,and young Sandro went to Verrocchio.

A couple of years later, in 1470, he began independent work. Having opened his own workshop, the young man quickly gained popularity and recognition. Over the next decade, he acquired a large number of influential customers, among whom was the Medici family. At the same time, he was fond of the ideas of Neoplatonism, which had a significant impact on his work. From the end of 1470, Botticelli's fame went beyond Florence, and he went to Rome to work on the frescoes of the Sistine Chapel, which was only to become famous all over the world thanks to another genius - Michelangelo. He was only three years away from the work of his life.

The story of the painting

"The Birth of Venus" by Sandro Botticelli is deservedly considered a masterpiece of world painting. At the same time, this picture carries a lot of mysteries. Let's start with the fact that it is not known for certain who is its customer. Based on the fact that the canvas was stored in the Villa Castello near Florence, which was owned by Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco Medici, most art historians claim that it was he who paid for the work. According to other versions, initially the customer was a completely different person. Well, this picture, like "Spring", which will be discussed a little later, came to the Medici later. Be that as it may, there is no longer any documentary evidence of who originally commissioned the painting "Venus" by Botticelli.

Description

The painting is a canvas about 2 by 3 meters, it is made with tempera paints on canvas. It depicts a young naked woman on the seashore, standing in a shell and symbolizing Venus. To her left are the gods of the winds, who apparently helped her swim, and to her right, one of the Graces, hastening towards her with a red robe to cover her. Venus is surrounded by flowers (roses, anemones), reeds below. Strictly speaking, this is not a birth, but rather the arrival of a goddess on earth.

Symbolism

"The Birth of Venus" - a painting by Botticelli, which is often cited as an example, talking about how skillfully artists weave hidden meaning into their canvases. It especially clearly shows the influence of the author of Neoplatonism - a doctrine that combines some ideas of both Christianity and paganism. The following most clear characters are distinguished:

• The shell in which Venus stands is exactly the shape that personifies the female womb.
• The winds located on the left side of the picture (some still mistake them for angels) in the form of figures of a man and a woman symbolize the unity of carnal and spiritual love.
• Ora Tallo (according to another version - one of the Graces) "responsible" for the spring, namely at this time of the year the goddess is born.
• Roses are a recognized symbol of love.
• Cornflowers on Grace's robe - the personification of fertility.
• Ivy and myrtle around her neck symbolize affection and fertility respectively.
• Anemones at the feet of Grace - the flowers of the goddess Venus, according tomyths that emerged from the tears she shed, grieving over the death of her beloved Adonis.
• Reed is a symbol of modesty.
• The orange tree in the upper right corner is a sign of eternal life.
• Finally, the red royal robe is the divine power bestowed by beauty.

As you can see, the painting "The Birth of Venus" by Sandro Botticelli contains enough symbolism. And what can be said about the person who became the prototype of the main character of the canvas?

Model

The most likely candidate for the role of the goddess of love in this case is Simonetta Vespucci, who arrived in Florence with her husband in the 1470s at the age of 16 and immediately became her first beauty. Sandro probably knew her even before that - he communicated quite closely with her family, since he lived with his parents in the next block. There is no real information about how close the artist and model were, but experts on Botticelli's work believe that from the moment they met, all Madonnas and Venuses were written from her.

However, Simonetta was married, and besides, many townspeople, including very influential ones, were her fans. One of them - Giuliano Medici, Lorenzo's younger brother - was even considered her lover, although there is no evidence that his feelings were not platonic. It is quite possible that she simply remained the lady of his heart, as was customary then.

Simonetta could have inspired many more artists of her time with her beauty, but at the age of 23, in 1976, shedied of consumption. Her death was a grief for almost all of Florence.

"Venus" Botticelli appeared only 9 years after her death, and yet the goddess on her is so fresh and beautiful. The artist lived alone until the end of his life, never getting married. It seems that Simonetta, who found her immortality in the famous canvas, remained his only lover.

Location

Currently, the masterpiece is located in the same place where it was created - in Florence, in the Uffizi Gallery. As a rule, people crowd around the picture all the time, but sometimes you can still seize the moment to thoroughly examine it both close up and from afar.

Interesting facts

• "Spring" and "Venus" by Botticelli have the same model as the central figure, but they were written with a break of 7 years.
• When creating the canvas, the artist used innovative techniques for his time - crushed lapis lazuli to obtain blue paint, used a canvas, not a board, added a minimum amount of fat to the paint, and also covered the painting with egg yolk, thanks to which it reached our days almost in its original form.
• The proportions and pose of Venus clearly show the influence of classical Greek sculpture, the canons of which were laid down by Praxiteles and Polykleitos.

Cultural Impact

The painting "Venus" by Botticelli - the first canvas with the image in fullnaked female figure, the plot of which is not dedicated to original sin. And she deservedly became the main masterpiece, glorifying the beauty that does not need anything else. Against the background of the rest of the artist's works, which have mainly religious themes, this plot seems strange. Nevertheless, perhaps without this "Venus" we would have lost many of the world's masterpieces, without which it is simply impossible to imagine the history of art today.

And today "Venus" Botticelli continues to inspire artists, photographers, models. Numerous imitations are created, but there can be only one original, embodying the ideal of female beauty.