Zoe Dawson - Visual Art
hands
liberality
and
magnificence,
the
feet
comeliness
and
modesty.
The
whole,
then,
is
temperance
and
honesty,
charm
and
splendor.”
Far
from
being
the
goddess
of
lust,
Venus
to
Ficino
is
a
“moralized
planet”
[ibid]
signifying
a
virtue.
His
list
of
virtues
are
similar
to
the
“children”
of
the
planet
Venus,
bringing
in
astrological
conception.
This
description
has
“fused
the
two
traditions
by
which
the
middle
ages
had
transformed
the
ancient
Olympus-‐
the
moral
allegory
and
the
astrological
lore”
[18].
Fundamentally,
the
message
that
was
passed
on
from
Ficino
to
Pierfrancesco
was
Venus
as
a
notion
of
beauty
as
a
gateway
to
the
divine.
[ibid]
This
neoplatonic
ideal
can
be
used
to
interpret
Botticelli’s
Birth
of
Venus
also,
as
it
came
not
long
after,
to
a
member
of
the
same
family.
The
Medici
were
a
strong
Christian
family,
and
the
neoplatonic
interpretation
allows
the
idea
of
the
Christian
divine
to
merge
with
classical
mythology.
This
would
have
given
Botticelli
an
‘excuse’
to
paint
the
Goddess
for
a
family
who’s
commissions
were
usually
Christian
based.
This
neoplatonic
mixture
of
pagan
virtues,
moral
parables,
and
astrological
knowledge
is
hidden
in
the
meaning
of
the
painting;
yet
there
is
not
a
multitude
of
evidence
within
the
painting
for
this.
The
lights
and
tones
of
the
painting
present
a
pale
Venus,
with
hair
(created
using
gold
leaf)
gleaming
in
a
heavenly
way.
This
perhaps
suggests
birth,
the
woman
arriving
shining
and
perfect
as
though
untouched
by
the
world,
glimmering
with
light
tones
and
minimal
shadow
in
the
way
that
beauty
would
look
untouched,
as
it
was
born.
Although,
according
to
E.
H.
Gombrich,
and
other
art
historians,
there
is
neoplatonic
symbolism
amongst
the
painting,
it
is
not
necessarily
obvious
when
standing
in
front
of
it
at
the
Uffizi
gallery.
The
question
as
to
the
symbolism
of
Venus,
and
her
significance
as
more
than
the
goddess
of
love,
is
an
interesting
one,
though
it
is
not
clear
to
me
whether
Botticelli
succeeded
in
presenting
this
philosophical
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17