Birth of Venus is one of the most famous paintings around the world. Botticelli was born in 1444 in Florence, Italy, and was an early Renaissance artist (Kleiner 239-240). Even though he was a goldsmith at 14, he preferred to paint so he became an apprentice under Fra Filippo Lippi, and later to Antonio del Pollaiuolo, both of them were master artists of the early Renaissance, Florence. Lippi had a significant influence on Botticelli's delicate style, such as techniques of panel painting and control of linear perspective. Botticelli used clear and pure colors to paint elegance of line to paint graceful depictions of women (“Sandro Botticelli”). “Botticelli painted Birth of Venus for Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco de' Medici, one of Lorenzo the Magnificent's cousins” in 1484-1486 ca in Florence, Italy (Kleiner 239-240). paintings. However, its disadvantage was quick drying time, which made the smooth blending of tones very difficult (Kleiner 220) so Botticelli’s tempera gesso was modified by the addition of oil to make the paint more transparent ('Tempera painting'). Emphasizing the artists' brushstroke techniques gave artists to “build up deep tones through the repeated glazing” (Kleiner 220). Even though the canvas was lighter and more easily portable than the wood panel, Birth of Venus was the first instance of painting on canvas in the early Renaissance because canvas became popular until in the late 16th century ('Early Renaissance Artworks', Kleiner 220). In the Birth of Venus, figures were done by careful underpainting in charcoal, freehand without a cartoon, and using a stylus to enhance lines of features. Botticelli established a powerful outline to highlight its elegant image and contacted modeling with light to dark tones. He used gold paint to represent highlights on the wings, the hair, the fabric, and the shell ('Early Renaissance Artworks') and also laid in the foundation colors to varied areas, for instance, 'white lead, or the unprimed gesso, provided a base for the flesh tones, carbon black or malachite for the trees and landscape '(Dempsey). He developed his rich color schemes in that period. “Botticelli created a style of visual poetry parallel to the love poetry of famous patron Lorenzo de Medici” (Kleiner 240).
Birth of Venus is a masterpiece of the early Renaissance. The Renaissance lasting from about 1400 to 1600 was a great cultural movement that began in Italy and spread to other European countries. In this period, the Italian Renaissance provided an intellectual and cultural environment for artists to create art. The artists and artworks were appreciated due to their intrinsic merits. Renaissance art concentrated on the display of classical history and mythology in a more emotive and theatrical system. The artists convey that they explore the natural world to a perfect understanding of subjects such as anatomy and perspective. Artists turned to present the effects of light in nature and the proportions of man ('Western painting'). Italy experienced the rebirth of ancient Greek and Roman culture. It contributed to classical Greek values of humanism, which includes values such as human consciousness, and individualism was highly valued (“Early Renaissance”).
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Birth of Venus is a rebirth of mysterious allegorical work from classical Greek and Roman mythology in the garden of Venus ('Early Renaissance Artworks'). The artistic activity was looking back at the ancient Greek and Roman style because of nudes to make figures more fully physical realization of the ideal human image (Lightbown). Botticelli broke down classical to work innovation for its large scale, painted on canvas by using gold to emphasize tones. For instance, the artwork uses the centric dividing line as the position of Venus, but 'Venus is floating which deviated from classical proportions as 'her body is off-center, and her right leg curves too far over for her left leg to bear her weight,' to express naturalistic of beauty. The laurel trees and Hora's laurel, on the right side, as well as the pattern and colors of Hora's clothing and the robe she carries allude to the name 'Lorenzo' of the Medici family and the Republic of Florence ('Early Renaissance Artworks').
Birth of Venus was originally owned by the descendants of Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco de' Medici (Kleiner 239). The Medici family was a significant influencer on the love of Renaissance art as well as politics and commerce. At that time, most commissioned artworks were linked to Florentine customs of marriage, to decorate a newly married couple of noble houses (“Sandro Botticelli”). Nowadays, this artwork is not running privately proprietary. Even though it also cannot be touched, all individual has an opportunity to travel at Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence. Therefore, the original and present viewing positions have different meanings. The museum is successful to provide limited information for an individual to connect with a lost culture.
In conclusion, “Europe experienced the calamities of plague, war, and social upheaval,' in the 14th century and 15th centuries (Kleiner 218). The result changed individuals’ perceptions, the fashion of including mythology in art was unusual before the 15th century. Art was no longer in religion. People were concerned about the natural world and became more humanitarian in mythological subjects. The goddess Venus is associated with love and feminine beauty. The nude female is highly unusual, especially for the 15th century. Birth of Venus is an innovation that gave a new idea for people's openness, one of the first almost life-size representations of a female nude that is fully mythological in its subject matter.
Works Cited
- Dempsey, Charles. 'Botticelli, Sandro.' Grove Art Online. 2003. Oxford University Press. https://www.oxfordartonline.com/groveart/view/10.1093/gao/9781884446054.001.0001/oao-9781884446054-e-7000010385. Accessed 27 Jan. 2020,
- 'Early Renaissance.' theartstory.org, https://www.theartstory.org/movement/early-renaissance/. Accessed 25 Jan. 2020.
- 'Early Renaissance Artworks' theartstory.org, https://www.theartstory.org/movement/early-renaissance/artworks/#pnt_11. Accessed 25 Jan. 2020.
- Kleiner, Fred S., Gardner’s Art Through the Ages: A Concise Global History, (4th Edition) Wadsworth Cengage Learning, USA: 2017
- Lightbown, Ronald. 'Sandro Botticelli.' Britannica Academic, Encyclopædia Britannica, 6 Sep. 2019. academic-eb-com.libaccess.senecacollege.ca/levels/collegiate/article/Sandro-Botticelli/15873. Accessed 27 Jan. 2020.
- 'Sandro Botticelli.' Britannica Academic, Encyclopædia Britannica, 6 Sep. 2019. academic-eb com.libaccess.senecacollege.ca/levels/collegiate/article/Sandro-Botticelli/15873. Accessed 25 Jan. 2020.
- 'Tempera painting.' Britannica Academic, Encyclopædia Britannica, 27 Nov. 2014. academic-eb-com.libaccess.senecacollege.ca/levels/collegiate/article/tempera-painting/71629. Accessed 26 Jan. 2020.
- 'Western painting.' Britannica Academic, Encyclopædia Britannica, 12 Jan. 2019. academic.eb.com/levels/collegiate/article/Western-painting/108651. Accessed 26 Jan. 2020.
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