birth of venus

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Recommended: Examples of Nude renaissance art

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. In my opinion, this picture was way more than the nudeness of the female. It represented natural beauty and love. The soft pastels and flowers floating in the water made it seem natural and peaceful. The details that appear in her hair and the lines of her pose were very elegant and made the piece so beautiful. The details of her hair blowing in the wind and the drape blowing like a flag. Although she is nude I believe Botticelli showed the femininity and curves of her body in a romantic way. In much of my research she was referred to as the ancient Goddess of Love- Born of the Sea. This painting was unlike any other renaissance paintings that I have seen. The typical renaissance artwork seems to show more solid figures that represent people. The Birth of Venus appears to be almost angelic features in their characters. It is believed she emerged from the sea as a grown woman. Looking at the painting I can almost visual being in the fantasy of the painting. It seems like Zephyr the god of winds and breeze- Azura were embraced as one blowing soft wind pushing Venus to shore where she would be met and draped wi... ... middle of paper ... ...impressed with the painting. There were indications that the painting by Botticelli was banned for almost 200 years because of the nudity. Since his painting in 1486 there have been many other paintings. Some fuller figure, some with more deformity, and some with more symmetric. Then there were more paintings with women nude and revealing more of the body. Botticelli’s, The Birth of Venus, may have been controversial for a minute but once you look beyond the nakedness of the picture one can find the great beauty that it entails. Often I have found some nude paintings and artwork distasteful and awkward. This however, was not the case with The Birth of Venus. This was absolutely breathtakingly beautiful. I found it to not only beautiful but very inspiring for true love. True love for nature, elegance, expressions of femininity and the hope of something new.

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