Sandro Botticelli

HEWLETT-PACKARD

Birth of Venus

Art History

Taylor Nyugen

5/6/2012

Based on the works, life and art period of Sandro Botticelli, focusing primarily on the sexuality and significance of the Birth of Venus.

Born in 1445 with the birth name of Alessandro di Mariano di Vanni Filipepi, Sandro Botticelli was a very important figure in early fifteenth century art. This period of art is also known as the Renaissance. The Renaissance Period was based on an interest in Roman and Greek culture, which started in Italy. Botticelli belonged to the Florentine School as an apprentice under the guidance of Fra Filippo Lippi from 1458 to 1459. Many of the paintings from Botticelli in this era are based on Roman mythology, such as Spring and The Birth of Venus.

In Roman mythology, Venus represents the principle of love, sex, beauty, fertility, prosperity and military victory. The name Venus stems from the Latin noun Venus which means sexual love and sexual desire. It is thought that Venus is in reality born of sea foam, which is significant to Romans due to the fact they believe that water is one of the main components of life. Venus is the equivalent to the Greek figure Aphrodite.

Influenced by the beauty and sexuality of the Roman goddess Venus, Botticelli derived the painting "Birth of Venus" in 1486. This particular painting depicts a full grown Venus, emerging from the water onto the sea shore. This painting in my opinion depicts the importance of sexuality in art, due to the fact that the painting would not have the same aesthetically appealing look with a fully clothed version of Venus.

Botticelli's artwork is considered to be unnatural to many art critics. Some individuals consider his work to be unnatural due to the fact that Botticelli did not give figures in his painting any weight or volume. In this styling, the artist can give the character depicted more of an unnatural stance, which adds to the sexuality of the piece. Venus is depicted in the art of Botticelli as a blonde haired, pale-skinned and voluptuous figure.

The painting "The Birth of Venus" is meant to depict the idea of divine love. Divine love is considered to be defined as the greatest love/gift in the world. Divine love also has biblical ties, which states that divine love belongs to or is directly of God. With this meaning it adds to the sexuality and persons being able to connect with the piece due to the fact that people tend to be attracted to the idea of a divine love.