Bottecelli's Venus

Botticelli, a Florentine painter, was one of the most distinctive and popular of Renaissance artists. Apprenticed to Filippo Lippi, he developed a highly personalized style taking Filippo Lippi's linear approach to new heights of gracefulness. His work was elegantly executed with a rich language of sometimes highly personal and melancholy gesture. By 1480 Botticelli had is own workshop with assistants. He spent almost all of his life working for the great families of Florence, especially the Medici family, for whom he painted portraits, most notably the Giuliano de' Medici. Adoration of the Magi was painted on commission (though not for the Medicis), and contains likenesses of the Medici family. His ideal of feminine beauty is shown in his mythological paintings for the Medici - most notably in his most famous painting, The Birth Of Venus (1482-84). The classical Goddess Venus is emerging from the water on a shell, held up by the Zephyrs, symbols of spiritual passions. The naked goddess isn't then a symbol of earthly but of spiritual love, like an ancient marble statue, slim and long-limbed, with harmonious features. (source)

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