Similarities Between The Birth Of Venus And Judith Beheading Holofernes

For this writing assignment we had to choose 2 different paintings form either different regions and different time periods, I choose “The Birth of Venus” by Sandro Botticelli and “Judith Beheading Holofernes” by Michelangelo Caravaggio. Both of the artists lived similar yet very different lives which influenced their works greatly. Sandro Botticelli the artist behind “The Birth of Venus” was an Italian painter of the early Renaissance born in Florence during the mid 1400s, about 1450. Botticelli started art apprenticing in goldsmithing and then started his painting with a master painter, Filippo Lippi. His counterpart Michelangelo Caravaggio the artist behind “Judith Beheading Holofernes” was also an Italian painter, however Caravaggio

“The Birth of Venus” is estimated to have been made in the mid 1480s, patronized by the extremely wealthy and dominant Medici family.Without a doubt the Medici family was one of the most influential dynasty of their time, which started in Florence, Italy during the first half of the 15th Century; they affected government politics, religion, and art which they affected the most and had a very long lasting effect on. “The Birth of Venus” is currently located in the “Uffizi Gallery”, a complex made by Giorgio Vasari in 1560 for Cosimo 1 de’ Medici to accomodate for the offices of the Florentine magistrates, which is how it inherited its name; uffizi meaning offices. The Uffizi Gallery was finished in 1581 becoming a gallery for family and friends of the Vasari; although it was made for private viewing it later became a public museum between the 18th and 19th century. The museum holding “The Birth of Venus” were both commissioned by the same patron, the Medici family and hangs as a tourist attraction along with many other paintings paid for by the praiseworthy Medici family. A little more than 110 years later Caravaggio would create one of his masterpieces “Judith Beheading Holofernes”, similarly to Botticelli, Caravaggio was patronized by the same person or group for large part of his lengthy career. His patron, Cardinal del Monte was an Italian Cardinal and diplomat who all throughout the 1500s

In the scene of her art work it shows Venus arriving at the shore after her birth a fully grown adult. In the center of the artwork is the newly-born goddess Venus who is standing in the bare atop a giant scallop shell. In the story of her birth, Venus’s scallop is there but it’s size is not described however in the artwork the scallop is huge as anything a human-like being can ride on must be. Hovering above the waves to the left of Venus is a wind god, called a Zephyr who is blowing air along with a young female who the Zephyr is carrying even though they both have wings. The Zephyr is blowing a strong stream of air radiating from his mouth while his female companion is blowing less forcefully helping the Zephyr propel Venus across the waves towards the shore. The original artist Vasari was most likely trying to the women as Venus’s aura, personifying it as a light breeze which is pushing her hair and flowers while the Zephyr’s stronger stream blows the scallop shell. Since the piece was made during the Renaissance era, Venus couldn’t be drawn completely showing herself off to the world, which forced Botticelli paint Venus covering her lower genitalia with her hand which is holding her hair. Unlike Venus, the female painted off to the right is clothed in a flowing dress. The female, who is one of the three Horae or