The Aegean
Described as stormy in the poem, "In the stormy Aegean", in this artwork the sea is calm and blue. It's possible that the line refers to the weather before this scene, but its also possible that having a busy sea would be distracting from the main scene. My guess is that the artists wanted the sea to blend into the background, and therefore chose to keep it simple.
Her beauty
The poem mentions her beauty multiple times, such as in the line "every god takes pleasure in her beauty and desires her happy bed". The artist here likely had to do some interpretation of what her beauty would look like. One interesting feature is the way in which her body is unrealitic. Her neck is too long to be human, and her torso is also a bit too long. This was likely an artistic choice, but it is interesting to interpret within the lines describing her beauty.
The starry garment
"she was received in the bosom of the three nymphs and cloaked in a starry garment". The despiction of the garment in this scene is completely different. In this piece, it instead seems to have flowers or a plant design. This could be an interpretation of another description of the same scene, since there were a few poems written about it. It could also have been done to have the cloak stand out, by making it pink instead of the dark blue a starry cloak would likely be.
The conch shell
mentioned in the line "a young woman with nonhuman countenance, is carried on a conch shell" has been replaced in this art by an oyster shell. It is likely this was done so that Venus can be clearly carried, as conch shells are much more diffucult to imagine someone fitting in. The shell is also notably larger than any real shell would be, emphasizing how the artist was able to change things to better fit the art.
Hours
"the Hours treading the beach in white garments, the breeze curling their loosened and flowing hair" The Horae are the seasons, shown here in flowing white clothing just like the poem says. The flower details in the dress, not mentioned in the poem, could signal to the veiwer that this is spring. While the poem mentions multiple, here there is only one. She is also in a sort of contrapposto, with most of her weight on one foot.
Summary
Overall, the artist was able to make meaningful changes to the scene that didn't change the story, just made it work better in this form. Most of the changes don't have to do with the actual characters, instead impacting the weather or the clothing. By making these choices, the art is enjoyable for people whether they know the original story or not. It also makes the story easier to understand to people who might not know it. By cutting out what the artist deems as less important details, like the storm, they are able to highlight what they think is important instead, like the horae.
Genially 2 - Date
Lily D
Created on November 14, 2024
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Transcript
The Aegean
Described as stormy in the poem, "In the stormy Aegean", in this artwork the sea is calm and blue. It's possible that the line refers to the weather before this scene, but its also possible that having a busy sea would be distracting from the main scene. My guess is that the artists wanted the sea to blend into the background, and therefore chose to keep it simple.
Her beauty
The poem mentions her beauty multiple times, such as in the line "every god takes pleasure in her beauty and desires her happy bed". The artist here likely had to do some interpretation of what her beauty would look like. One interesting feature is the way in which her body is unrealitic. Her neck is too long to be human, and her torso is also a bit too long. This was likely an artistic choice, but it is interesting to interpret within the lines describing her beauty.
The starry garment
"she was received in the bosom of the three nymphs and cloaked in a starry garment". The despiction of the garment in this scene is completely different. In this piece, it instead seems to have flowers or a plant design. This could be an interpretation of another description of the same scene, since there were a few poems written about it. It could also have been done to have the cloak stand out, by making it pink instead of the dark blue a starry cloak would likely be.
The conch shell
mentioned in the line "a young woman with nonhuman countenance, is carried on a conch shell" has been replaced in this art by an oyster shell. It is likely this was done so that Venus can be clearly carried, as conch shells are much more diffucult to imagine someone fitting in. The shell is also notably larger than any real shell would be, emphasizing how the artist was able to change things to better fit the art.
Hours
"the Hours treading the beach in white garments, the breeze curling their loosened and flowing hair" The Horae are the seasons, shown here in flowing white clothing just like the poem says. The flower details in the dress, not mentioned in the poem, could signal to the veiwer that this is spring. While the poem mentions multiple, here there is only one. She is also in a sort of contrapposto, with most of her weight on one foot.
Summary
Overall, the artist was able to make meaningful changes to the scene that didn't change the story, just made it work better in this form. Most of the changes don't have to do with the actual characters, instead impacting the weather or the clothing. By making these choices, the art is enjoyable for people whether they know the original story or not. It also makes the story easier to understand to people who might not know it. By cutting out what the artist deems as less important details, like the storm, they are able to highlight what they think is important instead, like the horae.