THE BIRTH OF VENUS PDF, EPUB, EBOOK

Sarah Dunant | 432 pages | 03 Jan 2013 | Little, Brown Book Group | 9781844089123 | English | London, United Kingdom Botticelli The Birth of Venus - What is the meaning of this painting?

However, we do not know which member of that family was responsible for commissioning the painting. Venus is depicted standing upright in an oversized clamshell, her posture is unstable and off balance, her hands attempt to modestly cover her statuesque beauty as her long, golden hair billows in the breeze. She rises from the sea looking like a classical statue and floating on a seashell in what is surely one of the most recognisable images in the history of art. On Venus' right is Zephyrus, God of Winds, he carries with him the gentle breeze Aura and together they blow the Goddess of Love ashore. The title of the painting is misleading according to mythology Venus was actually born from the genitals of Uranus, God of the sky. The model for Venus is thought to be Simonetta Cattaneo de Vespucci, a great beauty and favourite of the Medici court. Botticelli also used Simonetta as the model for several other wom en in his paintings supporting the view that he was actually in love with her. In fact, Simonetta died at the young age of twenty-two and Botticelli expressed a wish to be buried at her feet. It is thought that Simonetta was born at Portovenere in Liguria, romantically this is the birthplace of the goddess Venus. However, it is an unusual subject for the time, as most Renaissance artists used themes from the teachings of the Catholic church for their paintings. The mythological works by Botticelli, The Venus, " Primavera ", and " Pallas and the Centaur ", typify his pagan phase. What a fantastic image by Botticelli, you have to admire his simple, but very effective line drawing. This will always be Again a beautifully executed double image of the gods. Is "Aura" yet another portrait of Simonetta Vespucci, the second within the same painting? It probably is, in any case, this detail is filled with a harmonious tenderness and perhaps highlights the depth of feeling that Botticelli had for Simonetta. Does he imagine himself as the God of Winds, embracing the love of his life in his arms? This is a work of tempera on canvas. During this time, wood panels were popular surfaces for painting, and they would remain popular through the end of the sixteenth century. Canvas, however, was starting to gain acceptance by painters. It worked well in humid regions, such as Venice, because wooden panels tended to warp in such climates. 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 e. 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 is prominently depicted in the center, born out of the foam as she rides to shore. On shore, a figure who has been identified as Pomona, or as the goddess of Spring, waits for Venus with mantle in hand. The composition is similar in some respects to that of the Primavera. Venus is slightly to the right of center, and she is isolated against the background so no other figures overlap her. She has a slight tilt of the head, and she leans in an awkward contrapposto-like stance. Botticelli paid much attention to her hair and hairstyle, which reflected his interest in the way women wore their long hair in the late fifteenth century. 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 of Venus. The depiction of nude women was not something that was normally done in the Middle Ages, with a few exceptions in specific circumstances. For the modeling of this figure, Botticelli turned to an Aphrodite statue, such as the Aphrodite of Cnidos, in which the goddess attempts to cover herself in a gesture of modestly. In painting Venus, Botticelli painted a dark line around the contours of her body. This made it easier to see her bodily forms against the background, and it also emphasized the color of her milky skin. The result of all of this is that Venus almost looks like her flesh is made out of marble, underscoring the sculpturesque nature of her body. 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. The Birth of Venus - Wikipedia

Like the Primavera, the Birth of Venus is also associated with the concept of Humanitas,or virtuous Humanity, a theory developed by Marsilio Ficino in a letter to the young Lorenzo. According to the interpretation by Ernst Gombrich, the work depicts the symbolic fusion of Spirit and Matter, the harmonious interaction of Idea and Nature. Nevertheless, the interpretations of this painting of extraordinary visual impact are numerous and diverse. It is for this reason that the humanist Ugolino Verino in his work Epigrammata, presented in to the King of Hungary , Matthias Corvinus, likened the Florentine painter to the legendary Apelles of Ancient Greece. That Obscure Object of Desire. La Primavera Spring From related movement. Pallas and the Centaur Created around the same time. This "beyond the book" feature is available to non-members for a limited time. Join today for full access. A Piece of the World. About this book. More books by this author. From the 1 New York Times bestselling author of the smash hit Orphan Train, a stunning and atmospheric novel of friendship, passion, and art, inspired by Andrew Wyeth's mysterious and iconic painting Christina's World. Of Arms and Artists. A fascinating look at how the art world viewed the American Revolution, and how their work still effects the way we view those events today. A multigenerational story about two families bound together by the tides of history. Reader Reviews. Master storyteller Ben Macintyre tells the true story behind the Cold War's most intrepid female spy. BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction— books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us. Subscribe to receive some of our best reviews, "beyond the book" articles, book club info, and giveaways by email. The Birth of Venus by Sarah Dunant. Write a Review. Book Summary A compulsively absorbing story of love, art, religion and power set in Florence during the Renaissance and told through the passionate voice of a heroine with the same vibrant spirit as her beloved city. Chapter 1 Looking back now, I see it more as an act of pride than kindness that my father brought the young painter back with him from the North that spring. Read Full Excerpt. Please be aware that this discussion guide may contain spoilers! Alessandra has the will and the talent to be a painter. However, she does not have the training or the social opportunity she needs. How well does The Birth of Venus explain why there are no women's names in the great roll call of artistic geniuses of the Renaissance? The image of the serpent with a human head is a motif that runs through the novel in many different forms. He was overshadowed by revered characters such as Michelangelo and Leonardo. Botticelli went through a moral and artistic crisis during the political turmoil that put the religious fanatic Savonarola in charge of Florentine government. Fortunately Botticelli The Birth of Venus was not among them. Email address:. Tuscany is church-spotting heaven. Beyond the famous Cathedrals of Florence, Pisa and Siena, lie scores Botticelli The Birth of Venus — What is the meaning of this painting? Why is she on a shell? The myth behind the painting Venus, according to the Greek poet Hesiod who wrote the Theogony, was born out of sea foam. Your friendly online guide to Florence and Tuscany. Get our insider travel tips delivered to your mailbox every month. Explore more of Tuscany. Tuscany is famous for its charming small towns, Medieval hilltop hamlets and scenic walled towns rich with atmosphere. Best Experiences and Places to visit in Tuscany in ! Looking for the best places to visit in Tuscany in ? Think real experiences that connect you with nature, heritage, and the soul of this wonderful region. Aside from top timeless destinations like Florence, The Birth of Venus by Sandro Botticelli - Facts about the Painting

Like the Primavera, the Birth of Venus is also associated with the concept of Humanitas,or virtuous Humanity, a theory developed by Marsilio Ficino in a letter to the young Lorenzo. According to the interpretation by Ernst Gombrich, the work depicts the symbolic fusion of Spirit and Matter, the harmonious interaction of Idea and Nature. Nevertheless, the interpretations of this painting of extraordinary visual impact are numerous and diverse. It is for this reason that the humanist Ugolino Verino in his work Epigrammata, presented in to the King of Hungary , Matthias Corvinus, likened the Florentine painter to the legendary Apelles of Ancient Greece. That Obscure Object of Desire. La Primavera Spring From related movement. Pallas and the Centaur Created around the same time. Full Review words. This review is available to non-members for a limited time. For full access, become a member today. Reviewed by BookBrowse Review Team. Write your own review! Sarah Dunant is a novelist, broadcaster and critic. After leaving university she worked as an actress before starting work as a producer for BBC Radio in She lives in London. This "beyond the book" feature is available to non-members for a limited time. Join today for full access. A Piece of the World. About this book. More books by this author. From the 1 New York Times bestselling author of the smash hit Orphan Train, a stunning and atmospheric novel of friendship, passion, and art, inspired by Andrew Wyeth's mysterious and iconic painting Christina's World. Of Arms and Artists. A fascinating look at how the art world viewed the American Revolution, and how their work still effects the way we view those events today. A multigenerational story about two families bound together by the tides of history. Reader Reviews. Master storyteller Ben Macintyre tells the true story behind the Cold War's most intrepid female spy. BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us. Subscribe to receive some of our best reviews, "beyond the book" articles, book club info, and giveaways by email. The Birth of Venus by Sarah Dunant. Write a Review. Botticelli trained first as a goldsmith before being apprenticed to Fra Filippo Lippi , the finest painter in Florence at the time, and noted in particular for his linear style of painting, his decorative motifs and pale lighting - a style, in short, which owed a great deal to the elegance and ornamentation of International Gothic art. Like his master, Botticelli was never fully reconciled to naturalism , either as a means or an end. Thus unlike contemporaries such as Domenico Ghirlandaio or northerners like Andrea Mantegna , he rarely gave weight and volume to his figures, and maintained a narrow perspectival space. Thus the figure of Venus like her counterpart in La Primavera , has an elongated neck and torso, while her classical contrapposto stance is gravitationally impossible. In short, realism is not high on Botticelli's agenda. He prefers to depict Renaissance humanism using the decorative aesthetics of the Byzantine tradition. Compare the more naturalist contemporary painting Virgin of the Rocks , by Leonardo. Thus he highlights her hair with gold leaf, as well as the shell and orange trees, and contrasts the milk-like purity of her skin with the richly decorated draperies of the proffered wrap. For years Savonarola had criticized Lorenzo de Medici for corrupting the people with music, plays, art, and other "vanities' of life. After Lorenzo's untimely death in , Savonarola and his followers succeeded in seizing control of the city government, whereupon the Medici were immediately banished from the city. After this, Savonarola maintained a four-year reign of fanaticism and terror. Botticelli himself was so influenced by Savonarola's sermons that he suffered a nervous breakdown - caused by guilt at painting pagan, mythological works - and even abandoned fine art painting for a while. The peak of Savonarola's power was reached in During the carnival that preceded the Lenten season, his followers built a huge 7-storey pyre in the Piazza della Signoria , containing thousands of "vanity items" including books, paintings, sculpture, mirrors, cards, dice, jewellery, and other objects. The painters Fra Bartolommeo and Lorenzo di Credi even brought their own paintings to this "Bonfire of the Vanities", around which monks and citizens performed a frenzied dance. Despite Savonarola's excommunication and execution in , Botticelli's painting became noticeably more Christian and more spiritual. The phase of his glorious humanist expressionism, which so enriched Early Renaissance painting in Florence, was over. Explanation of Other Mythological Paintings. By Giorgione. By Titian. By Correggio. By Agnolo Bronzino.

10 Facts You Don't Know About The Birth of Venus

She rises from the sea looking like a classical statue and floating on a seashell in what is surely one of the most recognisable images in the history of art. On Venus' right is Zephyrus, God of Winds, he carries with him the gentle breeze Aura and together they blow the Goddess of Love ashore. The title of the painting is misleading according to mythology Venus was actually born from the genitals of Uranus, God of the sky. The model for Venus is thought to be Simonetta Cattaneo de Vespucci, a great beauty and favourite of the Medici court. Botticelli also used Simonetta as the model for several other wom en in his paintings supporting the view that he was actually in love with her. In fact, Simonetta died at the young age of twenty-two and Botticelli expressed a wish to be buried at her feet. It is thought that Simonetta was born at Portovenere in Liguria, romantically this is the birthplace of the goddess Venus. However, it is an unusual subject for the time, as most Renaissance artists used themes from the teachings of the Catholic church for their paintings. The mythological works by Botticelli, The Venus, " Primavera ", and " Pallas and the Centaur ", typify his pagan phase. What a fantastic image by Botticelli, you have to admire his simple, but very effective line drawing. This will always be Horne believed that the painting was commissioned soon after the purchase in of the Villa di Castello , a country house outside Florence, by Lorenzo and Giovanni, to decorate their new house, which they were rebuilding. This was the year after their father died at the age of 46, leaving the young boys wards of their cousin Lorenzo il Magnifico, of the senior branch of the Medici family and de facto ruler of Florence. In Vasari was himself painting in the villa, but he very possibly visited it before that. But in it emerged that, unlike the Primavera , the Birth is not in the inventory, apparently complete, made in of the works of art belonging to Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco's branch of the family. Ronald Lightbown concludes that it only came to be owned by the Medici after that. The inventory was only published in , and made many previous assumptions invalid. Horne dated the work at some point after the purchase of the villa in and before Botticelli's departure for Rome to join the painting of the Sistine Chapel in Recent scholars prefer a date of around —86 on grounds of the work's place in the development of Botticelli's style. The Primavera is now usually dated earlier, after Botticelli's return from Rome in and perhaps around the time of Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco's wedding in July , [23] but by some still before Botticelli's departure. Whenever the two paintings were united at Castello, they have remained together ever since. They stayed in Castello until , when they were transferred to the Uffizi. For some years until they were kept in the Galleria dell'Accademia , another government museum in Florence. Although there are ancient and modern texts that are relevant, no single text provides the precise imagery of the painting, which has led scholars to propose many sources and interpretations. Botticelli represented the Neoplatonic idea of divine love in the form of a nude Venus. 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. So, looking at Venus, the most beautiful of goddesses, might at first raise a physical response in viewers which then lifted their minds towards the godly. The composition, with a central nude figure, and one to the side with an arm raised above the head of the first, and winged beings in attendance, would have reminded its Renaissance viewers of the traditional iconography of the Baptism of Christ , marking the start of his ministry on earth. In a similar way, the scene shows here marks the start of Venus's ministry of love, whether in a simple sense, or the expanded meaning of Renaissance Neoplatonism. More recently, questions have arisen about Neoplatonism as the dominant intellectual system of late 15th-century Florence, [31] and scholars have indicated that there might be other ways to interpret Botticelli's mythological paintings. In particular, both Primavera and Birth of Venus have been seen as wedding paintings that suggest appropriate behaviors for brides and grooms. The laurel trees at right and laurel wreath worn by the Hora are punning references to the name "Lorenzo", though it is uncertain whether Lorenzo il Magnifico , the effective ruler of Florence, or his young cousin Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco is meant. In the same way the flowers in the air around Zephyr and on the textiles worn and carried by the Hora evoke the name of Florence. The closest precedent for the scene is generally agreed to be in one of the early ancient Greek Homeric Hymns , published in Florence in by the Greek refugee Demetrios Chalkokondyles :. This poem was probably already known to Botticelli's Florentine contemporary, and Lorenzo di Medici 's court poet, Angelo Poliziano. The iconography of The Birth of Venus is similar to a description of a relief of the event in Poliziano's poem the Stanze per la giostra , commemorating a Medici joust in , which may also have influenced Botticelli, although there are many differences. For example Poliziano talks of multiple Horae and zephyrs. Another poem by Politian speaks of Zephyr causing flowers to bloom, and spreading their scent over the land, which probably explains the roses he blows along with him in the painting. Having a large standing female nude as the central focus was unprecedented in post-classical Western painting, and certainly drew on the classical sculptures which were coming to light in this period, especially in Rome, where Botticelli had spent —82 working on the walls of the Sistine Chapel. What became a famous example of this type is the Venus de' Medici , a marble sculpture that was in a Medici collection in Rome by , which Botticelli may have had opportunity to study the date it was found is unclear. The painter and the humanist scholars who probably advised him would have recalled that Pliny the Elder had mentioned a lost masterpiece of the celebrated ancient Greek painter, Apelles , representing Venus Anadyomene Venus Rising from the Sea. According to Pliny, Alexander the Great offered his mistress, Campaspe , as the model for the nude Venus and later, realizing that Apelles had fallen in love with the girl, gave her to the artist in a gesture of extreme magnanimity. Pliny went on to note that Apelles' painting of Pankaspe as Venus was later "dedicated by Augustus in the shrine of his father Caesar. This picture decayed from age and rottenness, and Nero Pliny also noted a second painting by Apelles of Venus "superior even to his earlier one," that had been begun by the artist but left unfinished. The Roman images in various media showing the new-born Venus in a giant shell may well be crude derivative versions of these paintings. Botticelli could not have seen the frescos unearthed later in Pompeii , but may well have seen small versions of the motif in terracotta or engraved gems. The "House of Venus" in Pompeii has a life-size fresco of Venus lying in the shell, also seen in other works; in most other images she stands with her hands on her hair, wringing the water from it, with or without a shell. The two-dimensionality of this painting may be a deliberate attempt to evoke the style of ancient Greek vase painting or frescos on the walls of Etruscan tombs , [41] the only types of ancient painting known to Botticelli. Greco-Roman Venus Anadyomene. Roman glass cameo Venus Anadyomene. Another interpretation of the Birth of Venus is provided here by its author, Charles R. This interpretation takes much that is generally agreed, but Mack goes on to explain the painting as an allegory extolling the virtues of Lorenzo de' Medici. Mack sees the scene as inspired by both the Homeric Hymn and the ancient paintings. But something more than a rediscovered Homeric hymn was likely in the mind of the Medici family member who commissioned this painting from Botticelli. Once again, Botticelli, in his version of the Birth of Venus, might be seen as completing the task begun by his ancient predecessor Apelles, even surpassing him. Giving added support to this interpretation of Botticelli as a born-again Apelles is the fact that that very claim was voiced in by Ugolino Verino in a poem entitled "On Giving Praise to the History of Florence. While Botticelli might well have been celebrated as a revivified Apelles, his Birth of Venus also testified to the special nature of Florence's chief citizen, Lorenzo de' Medici. Although it now seems that the painting was executed for another member of the Medici family, it likely was intended to celebrate and flatter its head, Lorenzo de' Medici. After centuries of oblivion , the painting was rediscovered only in the 19th century. He was overshadowed by revered characters such as Michelangelo and Leonardo. Botticelli went through a moral and artistic crisis during the political turmoil that put the religious fanatic Savonarola in charge of Florentine government. Fortunately Botticelli The Birth of Venus was not among them. Email address:. Tuscany is church-spotting heaven. Beyond the famous Cathedrals of Florence, Pisa and Siena, lie scores Botticelli The Birth of Venus — What is the meaning of this painting? Why is she on a shell? The myth behind the painting Venus, according to the Greek poet Hesiod who wrote the Theogony, was born out of sea foam. Your friendly online guide to Florence and Tuscany. Get our insider travel tips delivered to your mailbox every month. Explore more of Tuscany. Tuscany is famous for its charming small towns, Medieval hilltop hamlets and scenic walled towns rich with atmosphere. Best Experiences and Places to visit in Tuscany in ! Looking for the best places to visit in Tuscany in ? Think real experiences that connect you with nature, heritage, and the soul of this wonderful region.

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