The Birth Of Venus By Sandro Botticelli

The Birth of Venus is a tempera on canvas painting by Sandro Botticelli. Botticelli was an Italian painter during the Early Renaissance. He was commissioned to ornament the Sistine Chapel, located in Rome. He worked under Lorenzo de’Medici in a time that was referred to as the “golden age.” He became an apprentice at the unprecedented age of fourteen, blessed with an earlier education than the other Renaissance painters. His most famous work is The Birth of Venus, which was completed in 1484. Unfortunately, none of the documents of the time are available today, as it was itself linked several decades after its creation. The content of the work leaves the interpretation up to the viewer, as many different conclusions can be derived.

Botticelli uses several artistic methods to make his painting

This particular painting was the first one in Tuscany to be painted on a canvas. Additionally, the use of specific materials also contributed to Botticelli’s fine work. He uses alabaster powder, which resulted in brighter colors, an attribute that makes his painting different than the other painters of his time. Botticelli utilizes his impeccable touch in order to draw attention to many aspects of this painting, including the coal point centered around Venus. In the painting The Birth of Venus, the primary characteristic of Venus is her controversial portrayal in a nude state. Nudity was not considered common during the Middle Ages. Her nudity led to two conclusions developed by Plato as a part of the movement of Neoplatonism: either Venus “was meant to be portray as an earthly goddess who aroused humans to physical love or she was a heavenly goddess who inspired intellectual love in them” (The Birth of Venus). Furthermore, Plato states that physical beauty opened a gateway towards understanding beauty that lies in the spirit. The nude Venus in the painting portrays an image bursting with divine