Aphrodite

Birth of Venus- Sandro Botticelli, 1485. Tempera on canvas held at Le Gallerie Degli Uffizi.

Emily Huynh-

Sandro Botticelli, the artist that created the masterpiece “The Birth of Venus” also curated other paintings based on the goddess of “love and beauty”, Aphrodite (Morford et. al). Botticelli is best known for his works on mythological and classical themes, making his artwork noteworthy when discussing Greek and Roman Mythology. Alongside “The Birth of Venus” Botticelli also composed the painting “Venus and the Three Graces Presenting Gifts to a Young Woman”. Upon scrutiny, the comparison of the paintings reveals similarities and differences in visual terms, symbolic terms and in background; attributes ranging from artistic depiction to differing narratives.

Firstly, to discuss the composition of the two remarkable paintings. In the “Birth of Venus”, the painting depicts Aphrodite as the center focus of the painting with two other individuals on either side of her, drawing attention to her actions and her beauty and grace. This composition is essential as it accurately portrays the gracefulness and movement of the piece which is meant to encourage the viewer to look at Aphrodite. The composition of “Venus and the Three Graces Presenting Gifts to a Young Woman” she is not the center focus of the painting as the young woman is. The circular structure of the painting invites the viewer to receive a sense of harmony and connectiveness from the piece. However, in both paintings, Aphrodite is depicted with positivity and importance to the Greek and Roman people as her divinity and power to help mortals earned her respect.

Furthermore, the comparable symbolic meanings of the two paintings should be notice as it depicts the different aspects of Aphrodite that the Greeks (Venus for Romans) valued and honored. In the “Birth of Venus”, the artwork represents Aphrodite’s divine origin, showing her godliness. This aspect is depicted as she rises out of the sea which often was aligned with the concept of creation. The scallop shell in which she stands on represents fertility, which as the goddess of love, she was heavily associated with as well to the Greeks and Romans.

On the other hand, Aphrodite was depicted as a gift giver in “Venus and the Three Graces Presenting Gifts to a Young Woman”.. The Three Graces embodies qualities of an ideal woman, while Aphrodite represents love and desire. Aphrodite is not the focus but rather the young woman is to explain the narrative of the painting. Aphrodite is bestowing these qualities upon the woman while also acknowledging her beauty and grace. As one takes on this symbolic interpretation, one may consider how the physical form of Aphrodite, the Graces and the young woman may depict some of the Greek and Roman beauty standards during that period.

The two paintings differ in visuals, symbolic meaning and historical background, however, one can indefinitely establish the importance of Aphrodite to the Greek and Roman people as one of their goddesses. From the graceful and harmonic visuals, to the emphasis on the actions that Aphrodite does in these paintings, one can understand why Botticelli’s paintings, and paintings like his are significant in understanding the Greek and Roman perspective on gods and goddesses.

Venus and the Three Graces Presenting Gifts to a Young Woman – Sandro Botticelli, 1483-1468. Fresno, detached and mounted on canvas, held at Musee de Louvre.

Grace Stewart-

For this piece of art I will be comparing Sandro Botticelli's “Birth of Venus” painting and the material we covered on Aphrodite and her birth in our course. We can see major differences between the two but also some similarities. We will first analyze Botticelli's piece, then we will analyze the textbook Classical Mythology.  Lastly, I will show how the two pieces do have some things in common.  

The birth of Venus by Sandro Botticelli depicts the birth of Aphrodite as she is born of the sea and rises to land. In Botticelli’s work, she is depicted rising out of a half clam shell, being greeted by the Hora of spring in Cyprus. Of course, this was done in 1485, thousands of years after the Birth of Aphrodite took place. Here we do not really know how or why she is rising out of the sea; without the title of the piece, we would not know this is a birth. The painting, without any background knowledge from the viewer, is just a nude woman on a clam shell coming out of the ocean. The other characters have little value, along with the landscape.  

The book Classical Mythology by Mark Morford gives us the background of Aphrodite's birth. On page 71 he says

When first he had cut off the genitals with the adamant and cast them from the land on the swelling sea, they were carried for a long time on the deep. And white foam arose about from the immortal flesh and in it a made in grew. First, she was brought to holy Cythera, and then from there she came to sea-grit Cyprus. And she emerged a dread and beautiful goddess and grass rose under her slender feet.  

The beginning of the quote refers to the castration of Uranus by his son, who betrayed him by cutting off his genitals and throwing them into the sea where they created sea foam. From this sea foam Aphrodite is formed. I view the sea foam as a form of symbolism, the sea foam represents ejaculation, which comes from the male genitals. This would make sense if the ocean were exposed to the “seafoam” and became “pregnant” to be able to birth Aphrodite.  

Were also told that once Aphrodite steps on land that fresh grass rises under her feet when she steps onto the land of Cyprus. We do not really get that same imagery in Botticelli's pieces. But, in Botticelli's piece we can see the landscape of Greece in the background. We also see orange trees behind the hora (mother) of spring, these trees are symbolic of the Medici family because they were the ones who commissioned the painting.  

There are some similarities between the art and the content we covered in class though. The first being that the sea is an important part of the story. She was born from the sea, a very crucial note. We can also assume that in the painting she is depicted as an unbelievably beautiful woman. Since she is the goddess of love and beauty and is described as “a dread a beautiful goddess,” the painting must depict her as the height of the beauty standards at the time.  

Works Cited

Botticelli, Sandro. Venus and the Three Graces Presenting Gifts to a Young Woman. c. 1483-1486, [Painting], https://www.thehistoryofart.org/sandro-botticelli/venus-and-the-three-graces/.

“Birth of Venus by Botticelli” Visit Uffizi, https://www.visituffizi.org/artworks/the-birth-of-venus-by-sandro-botticelli/

Morford, M., Lenardon, R., Sham, M.. “Classical Mythology.” 12th edition, Oxford University Press; Oxford, New York, ISBN: 9780197653920.