The meaning of The Birth of Venus - By Botticelli

“The Birth of Venus” is one of Botticelli's greatest creations. It represents a universal ideal of female beauty and has been reproduced countless times throughout the world.

Of this masterpiece we actually have very little historical information, except for the testimony of Vasari who saw the painting, in the middle of the 1500s, in the Villa di Castello, property of Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco de’ Medici.

Botticelli chose a linen canvas backing for this painting, a bit unusual for the time, which made his colors softer, creating the chromatic delicacy that makes it unique in the world.

Contrary to its name, the birth of Venus is not represented in the picture, but instead her arrival on the island of Cyprus.

The scene is inspired by the writings of Agnolo Poliziano, poet of the Neoplatonic Academy, and is based on the stories of the mythical poets Hesiod and Homer, rediscovered by Renaissance culture.

The myth tells us that Venus, goddess of beauty, love, and fertility, was born from sea foam. As soon as she emerged from the waves, the west wind Zephyr pushed her, floating on a shell of mother-of-pearl, to the shores of the island of Cyprus.

And this is precisely the center of the work; we find Venus almost suspended on the large shell. The goddess is shown in the position of the "Venus pudica" of Greek art, that is, covering her nakedness with her hands and long blond hair.

On the left, we see Zephyr, along with Aura or perhaps the nymph Cloris, his bride. Their embrace is sensual and passionate, and they’re surrounded by roses, a flower sacred to Venus.

The myth continues with Venus walking on the beach, miraculously making flowers bloom at her every step. To honor the arrival of Venus, come the goddesses who preside over the passing of time and seasons, called the Hours.

In fact, on the right side of the picture, we see one of the Hours, probably Thallo, goddess of Spring, as she covers the newly arrived goddess with a flowered cloak.

The presence of the wind Zephyr is the real protagonist in the whole scene, gracefully ruffling Venus' hair, rippling her mantle, and moving the flowered robes of Thallo.

Beauty and harmony reign supreme in the work and testify to the most serene period of Botticelli's art.

This painting also lends itself to different levels of symbolic interpretation: as one example, we can cite the opinion of Giulio Carlo Argan, a famous contemporary art critic, who highlights the correspondence between the birth of Venus from the waters and the Christian idea of the birth of the Soul from the water of baptism.

Another hypothesis sees Venus as the personification of the Mother, the creative feminine principle, which manifests itself in its nakedness, a symbol of purity.

She is the "Creator of Love" who accepts the earthly cloak that Time hands her from the hand of the goddess Thallo.

Finally, a curiosity regarding the painting; during its long restoration, it was discovered that the pupils of Venus are very large, as though dilated.

It’s been suggested that Botticelli portrayed what was a fashion of the time. In fact, we know that wealthy women used drops of the herb belladonna to dilate their pupils because it was considered a sign of beauty.