La Primavera by Sandro Botticelli

Where? Room 10-14 of the Uffizi Museum
When? Between 1477 and 1482
Commissioned by? Lorenzo de’ Medici as a wedding gift to his cousin Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco de’ Medici
What do you see? Eight figures in the meadow, surrounded by hundreds of different flowers. The blue figure on the right is Zephyr, the god of the west wind. Zephyr is chasing the nymph Chloris, who is associated with flowers and spring. Zephyr’s breath turns Chloris into the woman with the dress decorated with flowers (who is thought to be the goddess of Spring, called Flora). The central figure in the middle is Venus.

To the left of Venus, the three Graces (Charites in Greek) are dancing. The Graces are minor deities in Greek mythology. To the left of the Graces is Mercury (Hermes in Greek), the messenger of the Greek gods, who is scattering the clouds with his staff. Some people say that Mercury may be modeled after Lorenzo de’ Medici who commissioned this painting. On top on Venus is Cupid (her son) aiming his flaming arrow at one of the Graces.

Backstory: The painting only got his name, La Primavera in 1550 when Giorgio Vasari saw the painting, but it is also known as the Allegory of Spring ('primavera' is Italian for 'spring'). The painting is full of allegories (hidden meanings), which leads to much debate on how to interpret the painting. While many interpretations have been given, a popular interpretation is that the painting is inspired by a story from the poet Ovid. In his book Fasti (Amazon link to the book), the nymph Chloris is naked and attracts the first wind of the spring, which is represented by Zephyr. When Zephyr captures her, flowers sprang from her mouth and she turns into the goddess Flora. 

​After Botticelli completed the painting, it was placed in the summerhouse of the Medici family, where it would hang next to The Birth of Venus which Botticelli completed a few years later.

The Birth of Venus by Sandro Botticelli

Symbolism:

• Venus represents goodwill (humanitas) and divides the spiritual values on the left from the material values on the right (the earthly desires shown by Zephyr).
• Cupid is blindfolded while aiming his arrow on one of the Graces. This is a reference to the saying that love is blind.
• ​In the background are some orange trees, which are a symbol of the Medici family.
• Venus stands in front of a myrtle bush (the dark leaves behind her), which is a sacred plant for her as it was the first plant she used to cover herself when she arose naked from the sea.
• The Graces on the left and the right are wearing expensive jewelry in the colors of the Medici family.
  
• Some people believe that each of the flowers symbolizes a unique message. At least for some of the flowers the message is clear. For example, the strawberries in the crown of Flora represent seduction and the roses in her hand symbolize love.
• Finally, the city of Florence is named after the goddess Flora (which is Latin for ‘flower’).

​Who is Venus? Venus is the Roman goddess of love, beauty, sex, fertility, prosperity, and desire. Venus is also known in the Greek mythology as Aphrodite. Venus and Mars are the parents of Cupid. In art, Cupid is often depicted together with his mother, Venus.

Why Venus? Nudity was the natural state of Venus, which provided a good excuse to include nudity in an artwork. This was an important reason for her popularity in Renaissance art. Whereas in this painting Venus is still dressed, this will quickly change. A few years later Botticelli painted The Birth of Venus in which she is already largely naked.

Who is Botticelli? Sandro Botticelli (1445-1510) was a painter who belonged to the Florentine school of painters. The name Botticelli means “little barrel”. He got this name because people described his brother as “fat like a barrel”. Botticelli was initially trained by his brother to become a goldsmith, but at the age of 14, he became an apprentice to the successful painter Filippo Lippi (1406-1469), known from the painting Madonna and Child with Two Angels. Later in his life, Botticelli became a mentor to both Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo.

Madonna and Child with Two Angels by Filippo Lippi

Fun fact: The painting contains over 500 individual flowers and between 170 and 200 different varieties. Most of these flowers were growing in the spring around Florence. Botanical experts are already inspired for centuries by these flowers. They have been able to identify about 130 flowers, including daisies, forget-me-nots, jasmine, lilies, and violets. For the remaining flowers, there is quite some debate on whether these are fantasy flowers created by Botticelli or real flowers that existed in 15th century Florence but are now extinct.​
Interested in a copy for yourself? Poster or canvas.

---

Written by Eelco Kappe

References:

• Farthing, Stephen (2018), 1001 Art Masterpieces You Must See before You Die, Chartwell Books, New York, NY.