Birth of Venus by Sandro Botticelli

The Birth of Venus by Sandro Botticelli, tempera painting on wood panel 1486, depicts the newly born Venus emerging from the sea as a woman riding atop a great sea shell to the shore. Flowers float in the winds blown by the flying figures that propel the goddess ashore, while a female figure welcomes her. The sinuous figure of Venus with long, flowing blonde hair, is adapted from the sculpture of classical antiquity, with its distinctive contrapposto pose of opposing S curves and shifting weight around a central axis. Botticelli’s masterpiece is an icon of the Italian Renaissance and western culture, and a complex metaphor for love, beauty and art. Sandro Botticelli (1445-1510) was a Florentine painter of the of the early Italian Renaissance who apprenticed under the master Filippo Lippi. With strong Gothic influences, the mature work of Botticelli reflected a study of antique classical sculpture and was noted for its linear grace and rhythm, flattened relief-like forms with strong contours, and subtle colouring. The complexity of meanings in Botticelli’s compositions, from sources drawn from classical antiquity, mythology and philosophy, enthraled scholars for centuries.