Comparing Galatea And Botticelli's Birth Of Venus

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Galatea is one of Raphael’s frescos which was commissioned by Agostino Chigi in 1513. Raphael produced this fresco during the golden age of Rome under the rule of de Medici Pope. He created the scene based on Ovid’s Metamorphoses that telling the story about “Galatea’s escape from her rough lover” (“Session 14”). Raphael’s Galatea depicts the scene of mythology; similarly, Botticelli’s Birth of Venus is also a masterpiece which telling the mythological story about the birth of the goddess Venus. Birth of Venus is one of Botticelli’s paintings and was produced during 1484 to 1486. Botticelli received inspiration from the Florentine poet Angelo Poliziano’s poem “Stanze per la Giostra” then painted on canvas using tempera (Encyclopedia of Art …show more content…

Firstly, Birth of Venus is example of the classical Early Renaissance’s composition while Galatea displaying the High Renaissance’s characteristic pyramidal composition. In Birth of Venus, the composition is simple and narrow; all four figures are in the front-ground with a sea-view background. Differently, in Galatea, for example the left bottom of the scene, a cupid in the front-ground and a mermen holding a woman are placed in the middle ground while Galatea and another man who riding a horse are in the background. Secondly, the postures of Galatea are much dramatic and dynamic than the Birth of Venus. Raphael employed figura serpentinata that the postures of figures in Galatea are serpentine and relaxed and more energy. Botticelli’s figures, in contrast, are elegance that similar with the classical ancient Greek sculpture. Moreover, Raphael’s colors and lines are closer to reality than Botticelli. Raphael’s colors are vibrant while Botticelli using the brighter colors which create the sense of holy and sacred. Raphael’s contour lines are softer and his shadowing is gradual changing, but Botticelli’s lines are sharp and bold obviously that the figures look like

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