The Birth of Venus

          The Birth of Venus is a painting by Sandro Botticelli done in 1486. We briefly talked about the painting in class on Wednesday but I decided to do some more research on the magnificent piece of work to full understand what is going on in the painting. 

          The painting shows goddess Venus, emerging from the shore by Zephyr (Greek God of the west wind) and a nymph, as a fully grown (and fully naked) woman.  When you look to your right of the picture you see a woman in a dress quickly going to cover Venus with a cloak. According to our textbook "A short history of Renaissance and Reformation" by Jonathon W. Zophy, it is perhaps a "symbol of civilization". After doing some research on the internet other interpreters think the woman, Grace, is covering Venus because she appears to be very modest. She is trying to cover herself with her hands and her hair. 

Here are some other paintings inspired by The Birth of Venus.

The birth of Venus by 19th century painter
 William-Adolphe Bouguereau.

Birth of Venus by french artist Alexandre Cabanel.