Sandro Botticelli · c. 1484–1486
The Birth of Venus
Sandro Botticelli
The Birth of Venus
c. 1484–1486
Sandro Botticelli's 'The Birth of Venus' (c. 1484–1486) depicts the goddess Aphrodite arriving at the shore of Cythera on a scallop shell, blown by the winds Zephyr and Aura and received by a nymph bearing a flowering cloak. Painted on canvas, an unusual support at the time, and using a cool pastel palette of rose, aquamarine, and mint, the picture is the first full-length female nude of the Renaissance and a landmark of Neoplatonist humanism under Medici patronage. Together with Botticelli's 'Primavera' it defines the lyrical climax of late 15th-century Florentine painting.
Exhibition Venue
Related Stories
Image source: Added by operations team