The Birth of Venus: Let’s Talk about It

Sandro Botticelli, The Birth of Venus (1483-85). Tempera on canvas. Uffizi, Florence.

Article by Elene Kadagidze

“What the hell am I looking at? Why are there these two winged creatures on the left side of the work? Why is one of them blowing air towards the central figure? Why is Venus completely naked sanding on a shell? How is the shell not sinking from her weight? All valid questions!”

Staring at a laptop screen to look at a painting is, of course, very different from actually standing in front of it in a museum. But this is where we’re at right now so please bear with me as I adjust my computer’s brightness to properly see the colours in this artwork.

In episode 30 of Bet You Wish This Was an Art Podcast, we discussed how to talk about art, ways to look at an artwork, questions to ask yourself as you’re looking, and things to decipher to get the most out of a painting. Putting your thoughts into words is ultimately not an easy process, especially when what you’re trying to talk about confuses you to hell and back. At the end of the episode, we asked you to try to look at Sandro Botticelli’s Birth of Venus, and try to talk to us about it, using the tips that we provided for you. Well, to kind of test myself, as well as try to start the conversation, I’ve decided to do exactly what we asked you to do.

Now, I have an unfair advantage of having studied art history extensively, so what I see and what I identify may not be the same as what you will be able to identify and that is completely fine! This is an exercise that once you practice with different styles and different artworks you will start to get better at it. Practice is key! I will give you some fun insights into this painting, and try to make this experience as fun for you as possible. 

Birth of Venus is at a first glance a very strange painting. You might think: What the hell am I looking at? Why are there these two winged creatures on the left side of the work? Why is one of them blowing air towards the central figure? Why is Venus completely naked sanding on a shell? How is the shell not sinking from her weight? All valid questions! But before we try to answer them, let’s try to articulate what we’re seeing.

The central figure, who we assume must be Venus, judging from the title, is, as stated, standing on a shell, very unbothered, completely calm, with her long hair flowing from the wind. The figures on her right-hand side are intertwined in an embrace, both only being covered by pieces of cloth. These two winged creatures are flying above the water, with both of them blowing out air of varying intensity towards Venus. We might assume that the air they’re blowing is what is making Venus’s hair blow to the side. The figure on Venus’s left is standing on the shore and is fully clad in a beautiful flowery dress, holding a cloak that she is preparing to drape over Venus’s naked body.

Assuming we know absolutely nothing about this painting, other than its name, it is immediately evident, that Venus must be a very important figure. She is being led by these supernatural creatures (who, for all we know, are angels), and is being met by this other woman, who is holding a beautiful intricate cloak that she will cover Venus with. So the status of Venus must be very high. 

Moving on to our next tip, let’s talk about the style of the painting. The Birth of Venus is based on an Ancient Greek myth of the birth of Aphrodite, who is the same as Venus (the Romans changed the name when they adopted the Ancient Greek mythology). But this painting could not have been painted in the time of the Roman Empire. Why? Because it wouldn’t have been preserved so well after so many centuries of war and destruction. So what we should think of is: when did people start taking interest in ancient mythology again – and the answer to that is in the Renaissance era. Sandro Botticelli, the author of this painting, was an Italian painter (which you might have guessed from his name), from the Early Renaissance era. Fun fact: if you see other Botticelli paintings, you’ll quickly realize that all of the women he paints have the same face, which can also help you in identifying his work moving forward.

Let’s break down what this scene is based on. So Venus, or Aphrodite, has two versions of how she was born. The first version is easy and simple – she was the daughter of Zeus and Dione. This myth is much less fun than the one that this painting was based on, so let’s just dive right into that one.

So… It starts with Uranus and Gaea – the sky and the earth. They had many children, some of whom were the Titans. One of the Titans, Kronos, wanted to overthrow his parents – as one does. But you can’t really kill the sky and the earth! We need them! So what he did to his father, was he cut off his genitals – fun. Uranus’s blood landed on the earth, and from it were born different monsters like the Giants and the furies. The genitals fell into the sea and birthed our beloved Aphrodite. She literally rose out of the foam of the sea. In the painting we see the scene right after her birth – where Aphrodite/Venus, just come out of the water, is being helped by the wind god Zephyr, who is the dude blowing air towards her. The air is actually the wind, and it’s what’s carrying her towards the shore. The other woman next to Zephyr is either another wind god or Zephyr’s wife Chloris. The woman on the shore is a minor god of Spring.

I don’t know what to tell you. Greek mythology is weird.  

But going back to the painting, from knowing all of these facts, we see that the name of the painting is quite inaccurate: technically it is not portraying the birth of Venus, but the aftermath of said birth. However, the name adds a certain flair to the work, creating a curiosity, making us want to investigate what is actually happening on this canvas.

So here you go. This is me starting the conversation. Look at the painting yourself – What do you think of it? What emotions does it make you feel? Try to look into it and share some more facts that I didn’t in this post. Or, even better, make up something about it! Tell us what you think is happening in this painting. Put your thoughts in the comments.

Don’t forget to listen to the episode to get all the hot tips and tricks to help you out with articulating your thoughts!