Sandro Botticelli was a painter in the early Renaissance and was not appreciated during his time. Botticelli never wed because he did not like the idea of marriage and he claimed that it gave him nightmares. There were suspicions that he was homosexual, but it was never proven right or wrong. One of his most famous paintings is The Birth of Venus, which depicts the goddess Venus. Another famous painting of him is Primavera , also known as Allegory of Spring, portrays a group of mythological figures in a garden. It did not have an art historian named it. By analyzing the cultural background, the theme, and details we will be able to understand why Botticelli is considered an important painter.
Botticelli belonged in the Florentine School, which
This painting was inspired by a poet called Angelo Poliziano. It is believed that it has Neoplatonic values and the nude Venus represents the idea of divine love. During this time period many poets had the "ideal" woman and Venus in this painting fits the description of the ideal woman during this time period. The ideal woman had porcelain skin, bright eyes, and light hair. Botticelli was influenced by the ideal woman and it depicted in this painting. The poet got inspired by an ode by Hesoid which is the effects of Venus 's creation. According to Artable, Botticelli was influenced by the antique Venus Pudica and that is why Venus in the painting has that certain pose. For the painting Primavera, it was thought to be commissioned by the Medici and was one of the largest mythological paintings in the early Renaissance. It has a humanistic nature and reflects contemporary cultural influences of the Renaissance. Some of the mythological creatures in the painting are Venus, cupid, Mercury, and the Three Graces. It is like a sequel to The Birth of Venus because she is no longer a young girl and reigns over her land and is more
The painting clearly shows Mars and Venus being tied together by a cupid. So I can see why this is the most popular translation of this painting. My personal response was really strong after seeing the painting for the first time. As soon as I saw this painting I knew that it had a deeper meaning to it; and not just some people being tied together by a cupid. I knew right away that it had to do with Roman mythology just from the names. After looking at this painting for a while there is still something that the artist is trying to portray, that is really tough. It feels like there is more going on than what seems. The painting has such a calm tone to it but it gives a little hint of roughness with the sword and the horse, which I think, helps to balance this painting.
Venus is a term that has long been associated with artwork, most specifically the classical forms of beautiful women. The term Venus has also come to represent female sculptures of the Paleolithic era. The most notable of these female sculptures is the Venus of Willendorf, 24,000-22,000 BCE. The age of the figurine has been changed several times. Originally when found the date was estimated to be 15,000 to 10,000 BCE. During the 1970’s the time period was adjusted to 25,000 to 20,000 BCE; the date was again recalculated in the 1980’s to 30,000 to 25,000 BCE; the most recent estimate of age was in the 1990’s and was placed at 24,000 to 22,000 BCE after scientific research was performed on the rock stratification. This statuette was discovered by Josef Szombathy in 1908 near the town of Willendorf, Austria, in an Aurignacian loess deposit, which loosely defined is a yellow brown loamy geological deposit dating to the Paleolithic period. The name Venus was first associated with the figurine as a joke. The small, crudely carved statuette of an obese woman contrasts heavily from the graceful classical forms of sculpture such as Aphrodite of Cnidos, Praxiteles, 350 BCE. Although it would be difficult to associate the word beautiful with this statuette, there can be no doubt that it reflects the female form. The statuette has also been known as “la poire” or “the pear” due to its size and shape and more recently was donned the Woman from Willendorf. The removal of the title Venus served to take away the figurine’s status of goddess and lower it to the human level, therefore allowing more consideration of the figurine’s purpose (Witcombe, sec. 3).
Giovanni Pietro Rizzoli also known as Giampietrino spent the vast majority of his known career developing drawings and paintings of nude women from roman mythology under the leadership of the great Leonardo Da Vinci. Under the influential scope of Leonardo, Giampietrino replicated myriad artworks of leonardo’s displaying the importance of honoring the great artists of the late fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, especially those such as Leonardo who remain a significant figure in the discourse of the canon of art in contemporary art society. Although he developed his own techniques and manipulations to refine his own work and bring forth a change in the development of the renaissance and baroque style of art, Giampietrino closely followed the methods taught in the Lombard school of art and those of his mentor Leonardo Da Vinci. Giampietrino’s similar style of painting to Leonardo can cogently be seen in his painting Lucretia and a plethora of other paintings, which convey the influence of the Lombard school from the incorporated formal elements such as color, form, content, and subjec...
The Sandro Botticelli was an Italian painter of the Early Renaissance who painted many famous works. The Annunciation 1485, this picture is one of the jewels of 15th century Italian art, embodying the achievement that made Florence so famous and influential. On the other hand, the annunciation 1475 painted by Early Netherlandish Han Memling is one of the largest surviving depiction of the annunciation, with the varied composition in the work. Both works represented the European painting in that period, with different painting technique, and offers artists ways of skills. The artists depicted the human form, and architectural spaces, and illustrated the relationship between both, as well as the elements of the subject matter were expressed. Han Memling used the motif and styles which created a great effect.
Max C. Marmor wrote an article titled: “From Purgatory to the Primavera: Some Observations on Botticelli and Dante” in which he discusses the connections between Dante’s Divine Comedy and Botticelli’s Primavera. I will be comparing this article to one written by Sergiusz Michalski titled: “Venus as Semiramis: A New Interpretation of the Central figure of Botticelli’s Primavera,” which was published in the same issue of Artibus et Historiae in 2003. Michalski discusses Botticelli’s Primavera in this article, but unlike Marmor, his thesis does not include the influence of Dante, but instead revolves around the content and possible donor of the painting, not its basis in Dante’s literary works. The difficulty in comparing these articles comes from Marmor’s focus on Dante and the fact that Michalski hardly mentions Dante’s name or his enormous contributions to Botticelli’s life and work. The articles contain very little overlapping content, which is
“Venus is the Roman goddess, whose functions encompassed love, beauty, sex, fertility, prosperity and desire,” one of Botticelli’s most appreciated artworks ("Venus (mythology)"). In “The Birth of Venus,” Venus is portrayed naked on a giant shell near the seashore; on her left the winds blow gently fondling her hair with a shower of flowers, on her right a handmaid (Ora) waits for the goddess to go closer to dress her shy body. Venus seems to be shy about her nude body because of the body language she shows; her gentle, long arm awkwardly covers her breasts while her long hangs down over her women hood. The oceans horizontal line in the background makes the painting so much more peaceful. The shells shadow reflects onto the ocean, but everything else is bright which represents value. “The Birth of Venus” is a positive portrait due to the fact that the colors are bright and everyone comes forward making the ocean background. The three sections that come forward in the painting are on the left, the guy and girl flying and blowing wind, in the middle Venus on the shell, and on the right the lady along the seashore and land come forward. Although the everyone in the painting comes forward the painting is still a two-dimensional portrait. The texture of the painting seems to be soft and smooth due the
In comparison Botticelli and Fra Filippo Lippi are very similar. They both painted a picture beginning with: The Adoration of the… Botticelli’s picture: The Adoration of the Maji is a painting of the birth of Christ. Lippi’s picture: The Adoration of the Kings is a picture of the Kings. (“FactMonster” par 1). Botticelli spent most of his life in Florence. He painted many pictures of mythology. His most famous masterpiece was the Birth of Venus (“Artchive” par 2.). He was devoted to only paint pictures of mythological beings instead of religious subjects. That’s what he was...
This altarpiece painting was done in tempera paint on wood by Alessandro di Mariano Filipepi. He became known as Sandro Botticelli. “Botticelli” was a nickname given by his older brother meaning 'small wine cask'. “(Artble, 2014). According to our textbook, this painting is one of four Adorations he painted that have achieved lasting fame. (Wold, 2008) Botticelli was an Italian Renaissance painter whose life spanned from 1440-1510. I was unable to verify where he was born, but most of the information I came across seemed to agree his home town was Florence, Italy. “During his lifetime he was one of the most acclaimed painters in Italy, being summoned to take part in the decoration of the Sistine Chapel in Rome and earning the patronage of the leading families of Florence, including the Medici.” (Artble, 2014). Adoration of the Magi is a religious painting of the entire Medici family which was characteristic to this era. Our textbook explains that during this period the wealthy and powerful people liked “leave likenesses of them...
Titian had many accomplishments in his lifetime. In 1518, Titian’s Assumption of the Virgin was shown at the Church of the Frari in Venice. It was in this composition that Titian seemed suddenly to absorb the achievements of the Roman High Renaissance style. At the time, it was learned that Titan had not traveled much, and therefore assumed that he squired this knowledge of art by visiting artists, studying their drawings and reproductive engravings. During the decades following his appearance in the art life, Titian’s reproductions placed him along with Michelangelo, as the most powerful artist in Europe. He was recognized for his mythical paintings, three of which he created for Alfonso I d’Este of Ferrara, called The Bacchanal of the Andrians, The Worship of Venus, and Baahus and Ariadne. Among his many patrons, the most important were the Spanish Habsburgs. Titian’s fame, wealth, and social position resulted from his patrons and admirers. His major artistic inhibitions included being especially creative with diagonal placing and perspectives, as well as setting up unusual spectator viewpoints. Among his most famous works, rests the picture known as The Gypsy Madonna. This picture ...
Piero della Francesca presented an iconic image of the Renaissance in Italy in his own way, highlighting the two most important idols of the Catholic church, Jesus Christ and the Virgin Mary. Through oil paint, he connected sacred biblical meanings into his own masterpiece. He devoted Christ to portray him in a scene of blessing with his surroundings and other holy figures. The Madonna and Child with Two Angels (Senigallia Madonna), is a piece created with such emphasized meaning and such divinity of the holy, Jesus Christ and his mother the Virgin Mary.
Giotto di Bondone, known as Giotto, was born 1276 in Vespignano, Italy and died on January 8, 1337 in Florence, Italy. He is known as the most important Italian painter of the 14th century. His work points “to the innovations of the Renaissance style that developed a century later” (Murray). For the past seven centuries Giotto has been respected as the first of the great Italian masters and the father of European painting. Little of his life and works are actually documented, so “attributions and a stylistic chronology of his paintings remain problematic and often highly speculative” (Murray).
This essay will reflect on how body is represented in the portraiture art within the Renaissance’s golden period detailing specifically Botticelli’s paintings and how this experience have broadened and enhanced my knowledge towards the future interest. This period arise when the medieval dark ages come to its end and artist and their patronage reinvented and represented the ideas of the classical mythology, particularly of the ancient Greek and Rome. It is a time when outstanding numbers of paintings, sculptures, alfresco were born and a human body was exposed as the centre of the universe. An epoch where the dominate themes were no longer pure religious devotions but it shift its focus primarily towards the anatomical beauty of the bodies, ideally represented. Furthermore, I will detail Botticelli’s paintings “The Birth of Venus” and briefly reflect on other two “Venus and Mars” and “Primavera” paintings. All three include the mythic figure of the Venus, who signifies both passionate love and intellectual love that still culturally lives in today’s world. In my view a real portrait signifies the components of the individuality and also can translates the ideal impression of the truth embodied within human body and soul.
Although, both the Aphrodite of Knidos and the Birth of Venus have like traits such as nude female body, contrapposto stance, and iconography, they also can be easily contrasted by period of creation, technique, and artist. The human body has always been a popular choice among artists, but it seems the nude female body is quite controversial. The Aphrodite of Knidos, sculpted by Praxiteles about 350 – 340 B.C., or during the Greek Late Classical period, was a nude female modestly covering her genitalia. The Aphrodite was what made the small island of Knidos known to people around the world. Some 1,000 years later, the Birth of Venus arrived. Artist Sandro Botticelli, during the Italian Renaissance (ca. 1482,) defied odds with a similar interpretation of the Aphrodite despite stricter views on nude women. Both pieces share similar traits, yet can be easily identifiable apart from each other.
Sixteenth century art focused on individual artistic styles, which helped a lot of painters develop key characteristics in their artwork. The end of the High Renaissance and a turn towards what would later be defined as the Baroque style marked this time period. Andrea Schiavone’s The Marriage of Cupid and Psyche shows the perfect blend of taking different characteristics from the master painters before him and creating his own style. The combination shown in his depiction of The Marriage of Cupid and Psyche is of Titian and Parmigianino, both of whom were great master painters during the Renaissance. He combines the radical brushwork of Titian with the weirdly serpentine forms of Parmigianino to further his own stylistic manners. The Dalmatian artist scrutinized paintings and prints from all over central and northern Italy for inspiration. Throughout his career as an artist Schiavone remained grounded in the techniques and coloristic virtuosity of Venetian Mannerist painting.
Botticelli depicts Venus standing a relaxing pose with long golden wavy hair that falls to her knees skin blemish free and pale as the seafoam she’s born from with one hand (right) gently placed over her right breast she uses the other (left) grasping for