Zoe Dawson - Visual Art
and
the
critics.
Botticelli
and
Cabanel
therefore
had
different
aims
when
creating
their
depictions
of
‘The
Birth
of
Venus’.
The
two
paintings
are
consequently
very
different
in
appearance.
What
interests
me
is
the
link
between
how
the
manipulation
of
the
formal
elements
aided
the
artists
in
achieving
their
aims,
during
the
time
in
which
they
worked.
The
formal
elements
I
have
chosen
to
consider
are
colour,
composition,
pictorial
space,
light
and
tone,
materials
and
technique,
and
scale.
I
came
to
an
informed
decision
on
3
of
the
artist’s
aims,
based
upon
research
on
the
artists,
and
the
time
and
place
in
which
they
were
working.
Due
to
the
nature
of
the
Paris
Salon,
Cabanel
was
under
pressure
to
gain
approval
from
the
public
as
well
as
the
critics,
and
needed
to
improve
his
career
with
every
painting.
Simultaneously,
from
reading
critics’
opinions,
it
is
clear
that
depicting
beauty
in
his
Venus
was
important
to
Cabanel.
Therefore,
the
aims
I
have
decided
to
focus
on
are:
to
achieve
critical
acclaim
and
success,
to
capture
the
ideal
of
beauty,
and
to
further
his
career.
Botticelli
did
not
have
the
same
career
pressure,
400
years
prior.
He
did,
however,
have
the
burden
of
pleasing
his
patrons.
Also
intrigued
with
beauty,
Botticelli
focused
upon
representing
the
neoplatonic
ideal
of
beauty.
Thus,
the
aims
I
will
focus
on
are:
to
meet
the
requirements
of
the
Medici,
to
faithfully
depict
the
narrative
as
told
in
‘The
Birth
of
Venus’
by
Angelo
Poliziano,
and
to
incorporate
the
Medici’s
religious
views
into
the
painting
of
classical
myth.
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