This is perhaps the most famous of Botticelli's paintings,
along with the Birth of Venus.
Not only is the meaning of the work shrouded in something
of a mystery, but so it's the person who commissioned
it and exactly where it was housed. The Official Guide
to the Uffizi Gallery lists the work as being commissioned
by and placed in the home of Lorenzo and Giovanni di Pierfrancesco
de' Medici, the cousins of Lorenzo the Magnificent where
it supposedly hung over the back of a day-bed or chest.
The work is intimately connected with the Birth
of Venus in terms of it's composition and the
interrelation of the allegory... although it is still
disputed as to whether the paintings were actually intended
to be hung together. Recent research tends towards the
idea that although this work is slightly larger than the
Birth of Venus, that is
because the latter was planed down at some later date.
The Ufizzi does not hang the pictures on the same wall,
but many art historians maintain that they are indeed
a pair and should be seen and discussed together. Discussing
the two of them together is something I am simply
not capable of, but please keep this one in mind when
you get to the Birth of Venus!
... On to the analysis
Vasari described it as "Venus as a symbol of spring,
being adorned with flowers by the Graces" when he
saw it at the Medici villa at Castello in the 16th century.
But the complex allegory and symbolism of the painting
is still being debated in art and history circles. One
thing that is almost universally agreed upon is
that the work is inpired by the classical texts of Ovid
and Lucretius, and by certain verses by Agnolo Poliziano
(1475) a friend of the Medici and of the artist who described
a garden with the Three Graces garlanded with flowers
and the springtime wind Zephyrus chasing after Flora.
Identifying the figures is made easier when thinking
of Poliziano's verse. The winged, blue being flying in
on the right is Zephyrus who chased and captured the nymph
Chloris. Upon their marriage Chloris acquired the ability
to germinate flowers, hence the blooms falling from her
mouth in the painting. Next to Chloris is the smiling
figure of the Roman Goddess Flora. Botticelli has captured
the moment of Chloris' transformation into the Goddess.
Switching over to the left hand side, the youth at the
edge of the painting is certainly Mercury (the winged
sandals and travellers hat give him away). Next to him
are the Three Graces and at the top of the painting is
Cupid with his arrow. The central figure is oft disputed
but when reading this painting in tandem with the Birth
of Venus, it is reasonable to assume that she is Venus
and this is her garden.
More complicated it trying to decipher what each of the
figures is symbolizing and what they mean. The Graces
are believed by most art historians to represent liberality,
Mercury, the messenger of Jove could represent knowledge.
The figures on the right side of the painting give it
it's name - they show the birth of Spring and the rejuvination
of flowers and the earth. Cupid naturally enough represents
love.
There are two futher interpretations to be added to the
mix. The first offered by some historians suggests that
the painting is a symbol of marriage, in particular, celebrating
the marriage of Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco de' Medici to
Semiramide Appiani, a relative of Simonetta Vespucci who
was famous for her beauty and liaison with Guiliano de'
Medici. The second and more recent intepretation is that
this painting is intended to represent the whole of the
Liberal Arts, the very thing that drove the creativity
and the patronage of Lorenzo de' Medici and his circle.
