The Birth of Venus

852 Words2 Pages

The Birth of Venus The Birth of Venus is a beautiful Renaissance canvas masterpiece created by Sandro Botticello. The picture illustrates the birth of Venus in a very mystical way. Venus has emerged from sea on a shell which is being driven to shore by flying wind-gods. She is surrounded by beautiful roses which are painted in a truly remarkable color. As she is about to step to land, one of the Hours hands her a purple cloak. The back drop includes the sea and a forest. The overall effect of this painting are almost overwhelming, color and beauty meet the eye in every angle. Venus in Botticelli's painting is a Renaissance beauty. During the Renaissance women were believed to look more attractive if they had some weight to them. It was believed that this weight make them more prepared for child birth, and basically healthier. Venus has weight in the painting. Without this weight I do not feel that she would have such a strong impact on her viewers. Another strong point of Venus's presence is her wonderful long and flowing red-orange hair. It flows around her body keeping her pose modest, yet revealing. In all of this beauty it can be easy to overlook the unnatural length of Venus's neck, and the steep fall of her shoulders. Venus's outline is wonderfully graceful, and it is the grace that makes the print so wholesome and beautiful. If Botticelli would have chosen a slimmer or less natural Venus the harmony of the picture would have been destroyed. The picture has many wholesome elements to it. Venus is only one example. The next wholesome element to the portrait is seen in the upper left corner of the picture. It is in this corner that Zephar and Chloris fly. Zephyr and Chloris are the wind-gods and they are actively blo... ... middle of paper ... ...t they look ill to me. The sad past of this matter is that this seems to be the look that sells and that guys find attractive. All of this causes the indirect weight struggle that almost all females face from a very young age through out most of their lives. To see that beauty can come in all sizes make me for once feel comfortable when I look at another women's body. There is more to Venus though then her weight. She also has so much color to her. Her skin is of a healthy and natural glow, which makes her seem more human to me. Color is also displayed in the hair that has been given a wonderful color that is in fact too much for words. Looking at Venus makes me respect the beauty and dignity that women pose. This is the first painting that has ever given me this feeling. As I mentioned before I believe that this is caused by the way that Botticelli paints Venus.

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