Primavera (1482)
Florentine Renaissance artist Sandro Botticelli’s Primavera is a painting I’ve seen before but knew little about. Latin for “spring,” the scene is a beautiful allegory for the blooming of new life during that time of year. The dark background contrasts nicely with the lightly colorful characters and flowers in the foreground. Done with mainly linear perspective, Botticelli has included numerous figures from ancient myth.
On the far left are Mars and the three Graces. On the opposite side the anomalous dark-blue complected and puffy-cheeked wind god Zephyr snatches up Chloris, pictured simultaneously transformed as Flora. Venus is center stage, depicted in a rather Mary-esque pose. The parting tree branches behind her create an implied line and form an almost architectural halo, helping to showcase her dominance. Just above her we see little Cupid, arrow nocked and eyes covered; love is blind, after all!