The birth of Venus

Around 1484, Sandro Botticelli created what would become a defining image of the Italian Renaissance. The goddess Venus has just been born from the sea, and here she drifts toward shore balanced on a giant scallop shell. On the left, the wind god Zephyr blows her gently forward while a companion clings to him, their bodies wrapped in cloth and scattered with pink flowers. A figure on the right hurries to meet her, holding out a flowered cloak. Venus stands in the middle, poised and slightly bashful, her long golden hair falling around her.

For its day, this was a bold choice of subject. Religious scenes dominated serious painting at the time, so a large nude goddess pulled from ancient Greek and Roman myth was something unusual. The painting was probably commissioned by a member of the Medici family, who ruled Florence and loved classical stories. Botticelli was never chasing realism here. The figures seem weightless, their poses feel more elegant than lifelike, and the soft palette of pale greens and creams gives everything a floating, dreamlike mood. His real interest was beauty and the flowing line of a body or a strand of hair, which became the trademark that people still recognize in his work today.