Primavera - Denisse Zamora

"Quickly, Cupid, hidden in those beautiful eyes, adjusts the notch of his arrow to his bowstring, then he draws back with his powerful arm so that the two ends of his bow meet; his left hand is touched by the point of fiery gold, his right breast by the string: the arrow does not begin to hiss through the air before Julio has felt it inside his heart."

Here, Botticelli stays somewhat true to the source text. Cupid's eyes are coverd by some sort of fabric, and is seen drawing his bow. Although this is true, his "strong arm" is not portrayed well, but this is likely because he is shown as a toddler and that would be unreasonable. Some of the finer details in the text such as his left hand touching fiery gold and his right breast being by the string is not shown. That being said this could be due to practicality, since he is drawing his bow, we are unable to see his right breast which makes the scene more dynamic with more movement than if he was facing forward.

Cupid

"She is fair-skinned, unblemished white, and white is her garment, though ornamented with roses, flowers, and grass; the ringlets of her golden hair descend on a forehead humbly proud. The whole forest smiles about her, and, as it may, lightens her cares; in her movement she is regally mild, her glance alone could quiet a tempest."

Here, Botticelli does allude to the text quite a bit. Flora is quite pale but this is a common trait among all of the figues depicted. Botticelli perfectly depicts her outfit, she is dressed in white (although it might be a bit more on the sheer side) heavily decorated with flowers and plants. Flora's hair is a bit different from the source text as we do not see her "ringlets" since her hair is put up. This could add a sense of royalty as it is shown as a sort of crown on her head. This is subtly explained later in the text when she is described as regal, further adding to Botticelli staying true to the source text with Flora's depiction.

Flora

"She was seated upon the grass, and, lighthearted, had woven a garland out of as many flowers as nature ever created, the flowers with which her garment was decorated. As first she noticed the youth, she somewhat timidly raised her head; then having gathered up the hem of her skirt with her white hand, she rose to her feet, her lap filled with flowers."

Flora lounging

This excerpt is not really shown in Primavera. I do not think that this is plain avoidance but Botticelli simply choosing to portray a moment that could have been a bit before or after the scene in the text. Flora is not seated, but her outfit is still true to the text. This being said, she is raising her skirt with her "wihte hand." She has a subtle smile, but she is not looking at any youth, she is looking out towards the viewer. Depending on who is beholding the work, this could be considered true to the text.

"Beside her goes humble, gentle Chastity, who turns the key to every locked heart; with her goes Nobility with kindly appearance and imitates her sweet graceful step. No base soul can regard her face without first representing of its faults; Love captures, wounds, and kills all those hearts with whom she sweetly speaks or sweetly laughs."

Three Graces

The three graces; Love, Chastity, and Nobility are described in the text. They are described first as being beside Flora, which they are although not directly next to her. Each grace has similar features and wears the same outfit, but can be differenciated by their accessories. I am not sure which is which but each bears a graceful step. They flow as a unit which to me, adds a sense of togetherness which allows them to act as one. Their outfits are not described in the source text but they all sport a transluscent garment, despite this they are still covered up and remain modest in a sense.

"Ah, what a change came over him! Ah, how the fire rushed all through the young man's marrow! What a trembling shook the heart within his breast! He was soaked with an icy sweat; made avid for her sweet face, not once can he remove his eyes from hers; utterly captured by their charming splendor, the wretch does not per- ceive that therein is Love."

Mercury

Mercury is depicted in the opposite way from what is told in the text. He does not look ashamed, shocked, or shown sweating in any way. But most importantly, he is not shown looking at Love or any other figure in the composition. Mercury is shown reaching for a tree looking up towards the sky. Botticelli might have added Mercury with his hand on his hip looking up as a moment after he beheld Love and the other figures. This could have been some shame that manifested in him acting as if he was not looking at the figures.

Overall, I think Botticelli did an OK job at depicting what was conveyed in the source text. He was quite close with his depictions of certain figures such as Cupid and Flora but made some creative choices that diverted away from the text with the three graces and Mercury. Although I did not go into every figure in the work, they all exist in this space in a way that tells the same story the source text does. They all stay pretty true to their descriptions the way Botticelli chose to paint them.

Summary