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Essay about botticelli's venus: the making of an icon
Essay about botticelli's venus: the making of an icon
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Venus, the Greek goddess of love, beauty, sex, and fertility is renounced as one of the most profound and famous goddesses in Greek mythology. The Birth of Venus, by Sandro Botticelli is claimed to be one of the most famous paintings in history. The reason for this is due to its overwhelming and raw beauty. Many are mesmerized by this astonishing work of art, simply because it is a painting of the goddess of beauty. Others remember the piece due to Botticelli’s brilliant use of symbolism throughout the canvas. Yet, all associate the artwork with being the first to connect Greek mythology and Renaissance art. Overall, this illustration remains one of the most famous paintings throughout time. Before discussing why The Birth of Venus is famous, one must understand where Venus …show more content…
For instance, this artwork was the prime of the Renaissance. “The Birth of Venus (1484-86) remains one of the profound treasures of the Florentine Renaissance” (www.visual-arts-cork.com). Not only do most believe The Birth of Venus is the best art piece to come out of the Renaissance, but some truly believe it as a fact. No other art piece in the world exemplifies the kind of raw and untapped beauty as this piece does. Despite the fact that some may believe Venus did not have a major impact on Greek mythology, she shaped the Greek culture, and changed the perception of Mount Olympus. “Images of Venus have been found in countless forms from sculptures to mosaics to shrines and even domestic murals and fresco” (www.ancient.eu). Venus spun the world of mythology upside down. After she was born, lust and love were injected into mortal and god; mortals could see themselves having the same problems as Venus, thus praising her more. This is why Botticelli’s painting of her stands among the greatest in history. Venus not only triumphed the Renaissance, she also propelled the world of
Greece is famously known world widely for its spectacular artworks. People are familiarized with its sculptures, paintings, and mosaics, but not many know how its art has been transforming from time to time. An explicit example would be the drastic changes from Aphrodite of Knidos to The Old Market Woman.
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).
Firstly, Birth of Venus is example of the classical Early Renaissance’s composition while Galatea displaying the High Renaissance’s characteristic pyramidal composition. In Birth of Venus, the composition is simple and narrow; all four figures are in the front-ground with a sea-view background. Differently, in Galatea, for example the left bottom of the scene, a cupid in the front-ground and a mermen holding a woman are placed in the middle ground while Galatea and another man who riding a horse are in the background. Secondly, the postures of Galatea are much dramatic and dynamic than the Birth of Venus. Raphael employed figura serpentinata that the postures of figures in Galatea are serpentine and relaxed and more energy.
Venus of Willendorf is a very popular Paleolithic art. The artist made the sculpture to represent what was going on during those times. I also think it gives off a representation of power for women, and being a strong woman. Fertility is one of the most powerful things about a woman and I also think that it could possibly signify confidence. That is why she could be made in the nude as well. Although nobody knows the facts of what the actual prehistoric art means, we can use our analysis to figure out the point the artist was trying to
Leonardo Da Vinci was one of the most famous artists during the time of the Renaissance, The Mona Lisa for example, was a painting created between 1503 and 1506, it is the most famous painting ever painted. It is a portrait of the young wife of a Florentine silk merchant. It shows a young woman with her famous smile sitting on a balcony high above a landscape.
Encyclopedia Mythica. "Venus." Encyclopedia Mythica: mythology, folklore, and religion. N.p., 3 Mar. 1997. Web. 12 Apr. 2014. .
For most of the people living in modern times, art is only something they encounter while taking college courses, visiting museums, or watching Jeopardy. With this being said, your average person will only know a handful of artists, most likely of which being Leonardo Da Vinci, Michelangelo, or maybe someone a little more current, like Andy Warhol. However, there are a plethora of artists who get overlooked by almost everyone who does not own an art textbook. If one shuffles through an art textbook, skipping the major names and pieces, many other beautiful and creative works of art can be discovered that were created by lesser known artists. One of these works was done by Rogier Van Der Weyden, and it is called the Last Judgement Altarpiece, started in 1444 and finished in 1448.
Renaissance artists considered the imitation of nature their primary goal. Their search for naturalism became an end it in itself: to persuade onlookers of the reality of the object or event they were portraying. Italian artists began to focus in the area of perspective. An example is the birth of Venus. This connects back to Greco-Roman culture since Venus was one of the God’s of their religion. She is completely nude in the painting which differs very much from the Middle Ages art. Middles Ages art was regulated by religion, so this would have not been allowed. Another example is the death of Jesus, painted by Andrea Mantegna. It truly focuses on the perspective because it makes the viewer of the painting right there as if we are almost in that moment. The portrait is truly focusing on realism. The main differences between medieval and renaissance art was medieval art focused on religion. It stressed world beyond everyday life, used formal figures to express religious concerns, and portrayed scenes of the holy land. Whereas, the Renaissance focused on creating realistic scenes and images, humans were more lifelike, and
Peter Paul Rubens’ masterpiece, Venus and Adonis, is not only a significant artwork of the baroque-period in Europe during the 17th century, but it also tells the mythological story that begins with love, and ends in tragedy. Displayed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, this painting is admired for representing the unique baroque-style of this era, as well as Rubens’ particular use of the medium and how it reaches those who are viewing it. His attention to detail and crafty use of symbolism within the painting assist viewers in deciphering the story, along with the values of the time period in which Rubens was living. In studying the composition of the work and noting the historical context from which it came, one can ultimately understand Rubens’ point-of-view and thus, connect to the painting in a way he or she has never imagined.
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
Long, J.C., (2008). Botticelli’s Birth of Venus as wedding painting. Aurora, The Journal of the History of Art, 9, p.1. ISSN 1527-652X.
The Birth of Venus, by Sandro Botticelli, after 1482, was the choice for my writing assignment. It can be found on page 401, in our textbook, The Humanistic Tradition, by Gloria K. Fiero. The painting is a tempera on canvas and is 5ft x 9ft ½ in. Canvas was often used because it was less expensive and easier to transport. The Birth of Venus was one of the first non-biblical female nude paintings. Many of the earlier artwork of nude females were of Eve. As I was doing research, I found many different opinions and interpretations of the work. Often nude female artwork enhances a demeaning image of the female.
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.
The Renaissance was a time when people began to think and see things differently. It was a time for new innovations. People wanted to study the past and learn more about culture. People began to see important in human emotion, and they began to see that there was much more rather than just religion. Europe was facing many problems like the Black Death. But the problems caused a shift in the world view of people in 14th century Italy. During the early 1400’s, Europe witnessed a major rebirth of fine art painting, sculpture, drawing and architecture. Early Renaissance art had its birth of creativity and development in Florence, Italy, which eventually spread to Western Europe. Italy contained the status of being the richest trading nation with both Europe and the Orient, Italy was fortunate to be left with a huge repository of classical ruins and artifacts. In almost every town and city, examples of Roman architecture and sculpture, including copies of sculptures from Ancient Greece, had been familiar for centuries. The decline of Constantinople and the capital of the Byzantine Empire caused many Greek scholars to go to Italy, bringing knowl...
Located in a hallway nestled between the Art of Europe and Art of Ancient Worlds wings at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston is the Italian Renaissance Gallery (Gallery 206). Here, Donatello’s Madonna of the Clouds and Luca della Robbia’s Virgin and child with lilies face one another, vying for museum-goers’ attention from alternate sides of the narrow gallery. Both pieces indulge ingenious techniques, original at the time of conception, to create a completely new visual experience of a very traditional biblical scene, the Virgin Mary with her child, Jesus Christ. This paper will employ close visual analysis of two 15th-century Renaissance reliefs from Florence depicting the Virgin Mary and Jesus Chris in order to show how these artists used innovative