Alessandro Boticelli's The Birth of Venus - Essay Example

Alessandro Botticelli's - The Birth of Venus The sexual values found in different societies find expression in the popular art of these societies andthere is an essential relationship between various art forms and sexual values of the period. Historically, we can examine these sexual values by viewing them through the window of art and there are several examples in various art forms to illustrate this relationship between art and sexual values. Similarly, art can also be used to influence and give direction to the sexual values of humanity, as well as reflect those values. One of the best illustrations of the relationship between art and sexual values is Alessandro Botticelli's celebrated painting The Birth of Venus (1485), which represents the goddess Venus as emerging from the sea upon a shell compliant with the myth concerning her birth, and the painting is regarded as one of the most treasured masterpieces of the Renaissance. As David Alexander Scott maintains, the woman playing the role of the live nude goddess is assumed to have the properties of the image, i.e. substantially gratifying and monolithically sexual and the art of the period after the close of the medieval age has particular importance. "In the Western history of the Renaissance is the designated watershed that loosened the political power of the Christian church and allowed Eros a renewed, although circumspect, presence in art. Perhaps there is no greater icon of this age than Botticelli's painting The Birth of Venus in which the goddess, nude and unsure of herself, is blown to shore by the winds of change after an eternity of exile. The painting signaled a major breakthrough in one aspect of the medieval public policy on Eros, that of the inherent sinfulness of the naked body." (Scott, 197) Significantly, once the body as image had shed its ecclesiastical garments, the body's sensuality - the more heinous sin - was able to emerge by degrees in successive generations of renderings. Therefore, a reflective analysis of Alessandro Botticelli's painting The Birth of Venus brings out the obvious relationship between art and sexual values in the background of the society. In a reflective analysis of Botticelli's The Birth of Venus, one recognizes that the sexual values found in the society of the artist find expression in the popular art of the society and the painting brings out the obvious relationship between art and sexual values. Significantly, Venus is the goddess of love and beauty and she exemplifies physical perfection. She, lacking the quirky, individual features that distinguish one woman from another, looks like no one in particular but familiar nevertheless. "In the ancient Greek tale, Venus is both sexual and divine, flesh and spirit. However, in Botticelli's painting, she appears neither sensual nor seductive and far too chaste to be erotic. Having just been born, she exists apart from the real world of human experience. Even the landscape setting, with its pale green sea, mathematically scalloped waves and serrated shore, supports this impression of her as an abstract ideal." (Cohn, 73) Therefore, it is obvious that the sexual values found in the society of Botticelli had an essential influence on the painting and Botticelli has been careful in representing these particular values. It was in the background of the middle of 1480s that the famous painting by Botticelli was painted and there is apparent relationship between the painting and the sexual values of this period. In the painting, Venus is standing in the centre of the picture on a seashell floating in the water, in accordance with the classical mythology which says that she sprang from the floating waters of the sea. "The figure of Venus appears in Botticelli's painting almost like a classical statue. Botticelli has gone over the contours of the figure with a black line, causing them to stand out sharply from the surface of the picture and emphasizing their curious clarity and coldness." (Deimling, 52) The depiction of the goddess of love in the painting has great relevance with regard to the sexual values of the time. It is important that the representation of the goddess brings out the idea of beauty as divine principle. As Scott maintains, "in one historian's view, Botticelli's The Birth of Venus is an allegory of Beauty, that is, beauty as divine principle. The description of the goddess makes thinking sexual thoughts about her tasteless and uncouth: 'And the beauty of Venus, when she finally appears, is unmistakably a beauty that belongs to heaven.'" (Scott, 107-8) In a close analysis of the depiction of the goddess, it becomes lucid that the artist represents Venus with sex appeal, although the face of Venus is Renaissance face, i.e. distinctively individual. "Botticelli's The Birth of Venus used long hair and flowing drapery to accentuate the sensuous form of the body. The head of the goddess leans sideways, her right hand, holding long protective golden tresses, hides her parts. The face of Botticelli's Venus, however, is a Renaissance face: distinctively individual, rather than idealized and androgynous. She is a Venus with sex appeal." (Meyers, 189) Therefore, it is obvious that the sexual value of the society of Botticelli has considerably influenced the painting and there is an apparent attempt by the artist to depict Venus with sex appeal, though without violating the moral standards of the time and society. Botticelli's The Birth of Venus is one of the most celebrated romantic versions of the goddess of beauty and the influence of the society upon the representation of the female beauty is evident here. "The most famous of all these representations is undoubtedly the Botticelli's The Birth of Venus It depicts the woman at the mercy of the elements of, borne by a force beyond control. (The open sexual energy in such representations is quite unlike the demureness of the 'neat' Venus.)" (Lakoff and Scherr, 60) Significantly, the painting reflects the sexual values of the artist's society and it can also be used to influence and give direction to our sexual values, as well as reflect those values. In conclusion, Alessandro Botticelli's The Birth of Venus is one of the most treasured masterpieces of the Renaissance and it is an important illustration of the relationship between art forms and sexual values found in different societies. Works Cited Cohn, Sherrye. Why We Look at Art, What Happens When We Do. Dog Ear Publishing. 2000. P 73. Deimling, Barbara. Sandro Botticelli, 1444/45-1510. Taschen. 2000. P 52. Lakoff, Robin Tolmach and Raquel L. Scherr. Face value, the politics of beauty. London: Routledge. 1984. P 60. Meyers, Jeffrey. Modigliani: a life. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 2006. P 189. Scott, David Alexander. Behind the G-String: An Exploration of the Stripper's Image, Her Person and Her Meaning. McFarland. 2003. P 197. Read More