Genially Assignment 2

CI 101 "You could swear that the goddess had emerged from the waves, pressing her hair with her right hand, covering with the other her sweet mound of flesh; and where the strand was imprinted by her sacred and divine step..." The pose of Botticelli's Venus is directly from the writings of Angelo Poliziano’s poem, exhibiting the contrapposto pose, which is almost an exact model of the Venus Pudica sculpture in the Medici gardens, something that it is likely Botticelli would have been able to study. She covers parts of her body, however, he does not strictly adhere to Poliziano's image, as Venus's right hand is not holding her hair. This image is one of the first nude paintings of a non-biblical woman in Italian art, and rather than use biblical ideas to depict Venus, Botticelli gets ideas from mythology, something not common for the time period. The pose is suggestive and implies ideas of Venus being the goddess of beauty and love. Physically, she is covering herself up trying to avoid the gaze, but by painting her in this way, Boticelli is doing the opposite, drawing attention to her and to her sexuality. Poliziano also mentions the "nonhuman" nature of Venus, which Botticelli has shown through the somewhat 'off; appearance of Venus, with her slightly distorted proportions. She is still beautiful, but we can tell she is more than human.

XCIX 99"In the stormy Aegean, the genital member is seen to be received in the lap of Tethys to drift across the waves, wrapped in white foam, ... is carried on a conch shell..."Botticelli's depiction of the birth of Venus comes from the myth of her creation. The myth is that Venus's father Uranus was killed by his son Cronus, who then chopped off his father's genitalia and threw it into the sea, fertilizing it and thus Venus was born from the sea foam. While the myth of the birth of Venus did not come from Poliziano, certain elements of the birth did, such as Venus coming ashore on a shell. However, the shell is different from what Poliziano writes. He depicted it as a conch shell and Botticelli painted a scallop shell, which comes more from Christian iconography, representing salvation and birth such as a baptism. Additionally, Botticelli did not include the sea foam wrapping Venus as she came ashore. She is riding on top of the waves, but she is certainly not wrapped in white foam. By not including this element, Botticelli intentionally strays away from the source text and leaves Venus exposed to the viewer's gaze.

XCIX 99: "...wafted to shore by playful zephyrs..."Homeric Hymn 6 to Aphrodite: "...-laved Cyprus where blown by the moist breath of Zephyros,she was carried over the waves of the resounding seain soft foam."Botticelli's depiction of the birth has ideas from both of these texts, in that Venus was blown ashore by the breath of Zephyr, who in mythology represents the western wind, a literal representation of the wind that carries Venus to shore. It was believed that his breath had powers of fertility, adding another element of birth and love to this painting. Where Boticelli differs from Poliziano's description is that Zephyr is carrying someone, in this case, probably his love, the nymph Chloris. By including Zephyr and Chloris, Botticelli is adding another element to the story, however, he is making this part have a much larger role in the painting than what Poliziano originally wrote.

CI 101: "...it had clothed itself in flowers and grass; then with happy, more than mortal features, she was received in the bosom of the three nymphs and cloaked in a starry garment."+ CII 102 + C 100This is one ofthe main differences between Botticelli's and Poliziano's portrayal of the birth of Venus. Poliziano clearly states that there are three Hours/Nymphs that greet Venus on shore and present her with a garment, pearls, and a necklace (CII 102). Botticelli however, only paints one of the hours, in which instead of presenting a starry garment, she is cloaking Venus with a floral garment. This Hora likely represents spring, as is shown by the many flowers on the dress and cloak. The poem by Poliziano also describes Flora as wearing all white, so Botticelli has clearly taken some creative liberty by dressing her in a more "springy" outfit. The cloaking of Venus has several possible meanings, one of which is that by covering up Venus's body, certain humanist ideas are exhibited, making Venus human by covering up her body, as well as the idea of her coming ashore, literally stepping onto Earth.

Ovid's Fasti: "It was spring, I wandered: Zephyrus saw me: I left. He followed me: I fled: he was the stronger, And Boreas had given his brother authority for rape By daring to steal a prize from Erechtheus’ house."This excerpt from Ovid's Fasti paints the picture of the abduction and rape of Chloris. The iconography throughout the painting of spring fits in with the scene described by Ovid. As for Zephyrus and Chloris, some sexual encounters can be implied, as they are both naked, and since Zephyrus is literally carrying Chloris, it fits into the idea of her being abducted. Botticelli does not make it too obvious, however, as Chloris does not appear to be fighting back or upset. She seems to be admiring the beauty of Venus as is everyone in the painting, which is the focus of the work, and what Botticelli was trying to achieve.

Summary: Botticelli's The Birth of Venus takes a lot of creative liberties when it comes to depicting the sacred text. Rather than using just one text, common in biblical paintings, Botticelli uses many different mythological texts together to paint his picture. Some of these texts are modern, some are ancient, and by taking elements from many different versions of the birth of Venus, he is able to create a new one. His work shares many similarities to the writings of Angelo Poliziano, such as the pose of Venus and the background characters, however, Botticelli does not include all elements and changes some to fit the more Christian context that he is working in. His exclusion of the three Nymphs in favor of Flora is a key difference, as is the depiction of Zephyr carrying Chloris. The context is also shown through some of the liberties Botticelli takes, such as the humanist features seen throughout. Overall, Botticelli stays mostly true to the ancient myth of Venus's birth, while exhibiting some creative freedom in this scene. The main message is not lost, however, as Venus is still very much the focus of this scene, with all attention being given to her. The Nymph is clothing her, Zephyr is blowing her to shore and Venus herself exposes her body to the viewer, captivating all by her beauty.