Primavera

Sandro Botticelli painted "Primavera" around 1477, and its name simply means "Spring." Everything about the scene celebrates the season, from the shady orange grove to the meadow underfoot, which holds more than 500 kinds of plants and roughly 200 species of flowers. Venus, the goddess of love, stands at the heart of it all, with her son Cupid floating overhead ready to loose an arrow. The Three Graces sway in a gentle dance to her left, their thin gowns catching the light, while Mercury the messenger reaches up at the far edge to brush away a few clouds.

A little tale unfolds on the right side of the canvas. Zephyrus, the blue wind of spring, swoops in to catch the nymph Chloris, and his touch turns her into Flora, the flower goddess who strides forward in a dress scattered with blooms. That moment of transformation captures the whole idea of renewal, held still forever in paint. Botticelli served the Medici family of Florence, and this work was probably made for one of them, though nobody left behind a note explaining what it all means. Centuries later, people are still puzzling over the secrets tucked among its flowers, and honestly that lingering mystery is a big part of why it stays so beloved.