Post #3

Greek and Roman gods and goddesses have been popular subjects in art even after Christianity became the prominent religion. Artists and the general public saw the depiction of these beings as a way to hearken back to Classicism and traditional forms of art. Sandro Boticelli, a painter, had a style similar to naturalism, but his works mimicked much of classical art in that it showed an idealized version of people, places and events. Birth of Venus depicts the coming of Venus into the world as a full-grown woman, though she and the other people in the painting appear to be more beautiful than normal people are. Through the use of bright colors, impossible body shapes and positions, and soft edges, Birth of Venus demonstrates the Renaissance time’s glorified view and ideal of beauty and female sexuality.

The ideal in beauty for a woman during the Renaissance was fair skin, blonde hair, and a slim, graceful figure. While all of the women in the painting exhibit these traits to some degree, it is Venus specifically who epitomizes the ideal in beauty. The painting overall uses a soft-edged line quality, but it is distinct and crisp enough to feel realistic. The people’s bodies specifically are edged in an outline, accentuating the perfect forms. Things like the sea and Venus’s hair are much softer in comparison.

The overall composition draws the eye to the main event, Venus, by making her the lightest thing in the picture, along with her shell. On the right side of the canvas are the darkest areas, showing the land, welcoming mortal and surrounding area to which Venus is traveling. In contrast, on the left side of the picture are two otherworldly beings, a god and a nymph, sending Venus to land. These individuals and surrounding area are overall much lighter in comparison to the right side of the page, perhaps demonstrating the purity of the gods and heaven to the darkness of humans and earth. Venus herself is the brightest object on the canvas both because she is the focus, but also to show that a perfect, ideal woman should be completely pure and good.

Venus’s body shape and posture expand even more on the artist’s attempts to show an ideal woman. While a slim, graceful figure was the height of perfection for women, Boticelli highlighted Venus’s neck and limbs, and distorted her posture so greatly that she is anatomically incorrect and in a physically impossible position. Her neck, arms, and torso are elongated beyond anatomical normality, giving the illusion of an extremely slim, poised body. Her weight would not be supported in her current position, as her single foot supports her body in its awkward tilted position. This position, however, helps take the viewer back to classical art again.

This painting, while in most ways shows the feminine ideal of purity, suggests something else entirely in examination of Venus’s pose. At first glance, the figure seems to be attempting to cover her nude body with her hands. And this may be the idea, but the way in which her hands and her body are arranged, her action seems to only draw attention towards her sexuality, not away.

The scale of the painting helps further draw the viewer’s eye towards Venus, as she is the most prominent element of the picture. Beyond that, the sea and the tree line allude to the size and scale of the painting, suggesting that Venus is emerging from the large, expansive sea to the stretch of land she is entering. The wind god and the nymph are the next largest people shown, and then next largest is the mortal welcoming Venus from the shore. Though the people on the side are easily distinguishable and in scale, it is obvious that Venus is the focus.

The detail work accentuates certain things, such as the clothing, and parts of the tree. However, this seems to make the simplicity of Venus and her shell even more striking in comparison. Her beauty comes from nature, and is all her own, without any need for fancy, ornate garments or trinkets. This is one more note that shows the ideal of feminine beauty in the Renaissance; though a beautiful woman looks lovely in pretty clothes, her true beauty should come from within her, and be natural.