botticelli
Botticelli and His Portrayal of Women Botticelli is one of the most famous artists during the Italian Renaissance. He was very well know for the portrayal of the female figure and his ability to incorporate femininity as a symbol of life itself and/or nature illustrated by the changes of seasons. Botticelli most famous figure was that of Venus, the goddess of love. She was incorporated into two of his most famous works, The Birth of Venus and Primavera. Most of Botticelli's women had that typical hourglass figure to them . During the time period in which these works were created, women with the physical characteristics of Venus were considered to be the ideal feminine figure. These women were considered to be ideal because during this era, flesh was a symbol of health, wealth, and stability ("Sandro ...", 1). Women of this built were obviously healthy because this showed that they ate well and were thus financially secure. Thin women on the other hand were viewed as being poor and thus underfed and unhealthy due to !lack of funds and hard labor. Also, men viewed Venus (especially her wide hips) to be the perfect figure, because they saw that type of figure to be designed especially for the purposes of child bearing (Turn
Botticelli is brilliant in the way he depicts this rebirth. When the women are revealing their bodies, they have the typical hourglass figure. Chloris was raped by Zephyr, the man all the way to the right of the painting (Dempsey, 44). He depicts the painting in this order because according to the Roman calendar, spring unfolded from right to left (Turner, 152). Botticelli adds the wind factor, which in turn makes Venus more attracting because it leaves to the mind the imagination of her becoming nude if she did not hold the hair in the position that he placed it. It depicts this image because she is drawn as a "pure" person, not knowing much about what is happening. In this painting, Venus symbolizes the survival of the past season. Rizzo 5 Works Cited Deimling, Barbara. Flowers bloomed and people survived harsh winters. The arm that covers her breasts and the log hair covering the genitals is how she is preventing herself from being "exposed" and essentially how he maintains her modesty (Dempsey, 35). In fact in this painting, even though the goddess is Rizzo 2 nude, he depicts her in such a fashion that shows she has self-confidence and lack of embarrassment. Venus in this painting is once again meant to be the beginning of the beginning of a new life. Even though the artist uses these women as a symbol of something, he still shows much respect for them by putting some form of coverage on their figures.
Common topics in this essay:
Chloris Chloris,
Birth Venus,
Primavera Botticelli's,
Italian Renaissance,
Word Count,
Sandro Botticelli,
Women Botticelli,
goddess love,
Jersey Princeton,
Park Lane,
Benedikt Taschen,
botticelli's women,
typical hourglass figure,
birth venus,
hourglass figure,
birth beginning,
figure women,
venus goddess,
typical hourglass,
painting depicts,
survived harsh winters,
venus goddess love,
considered ideal,
|
Acceptance Essays
