Botticelli's Birth of Venus

Everyone knows Botticelli's Birth of Venus — one of the most iconic paintings of all time.

But what exactly is going on here? Scholars have wrestled with its meaning (and mystery) for 500 years.

And it isn't what you think... 

The first thing to notice is the title is wrong.

Venus, goddess of love, beauty, and fertility, is not actually being born here — she's coming ashore...

In Greek myth, Aphrodite (Venus to the Romans) came to be after Cronus castrated his father Uranus, and threw his genitals into the sea.

Then, out of the sea foam emerged Venus, riding upon a seashell to land on the island of Cyprus.

It is this event that caused roses to first appear on Earth.

We see roses flutter around Venus, and the shore is barren — until she steps on and breathes life into it.

On the left, she's blown by Zephyrus, god of the West wind.

Receiving her on land is one of the Hours (a personification of Spring), who throws a heavenly garment over Venus.

As a mythological piece, it's quite different to Botticelli's other work.

He approached religious scenes with far more realism, since he treated them as true history...

Whereas here, there's no attempt to portray reality.

It's two-dimensional and stylized, the figures are arranged linearly, and thin, dark lines border Venus — so she looks almost like a statue.

In 1485, this painting was revolutionary. It was virtually the first nude in art since antiquity, so it broke the taboo by appealing daringly to sexuality — right?

Wrong. It's about something far deeper...

Remember how nothing seems real. Venus even seems to float somehow with an impossible posture.

She isn't a physical being meant to evoke carnal desire — she represents the very essence of beauty itself.

Her pose is modest and vulnerable. We're meant to contemplate not physical beauty, but a higher form.

In Botticelli's day, Neoplatonism was rising: belief that beauty is a reflection of the divine, and contemplating it elevates one's soul to divinity.

That's similar to Christian theology: beauty elevates the soul, and agape (love's highest form) is a pathway to God.

So, Renaissance masters used Plato's ancient idea to connect the cultural heritage of Ancient Greece with Christianity...

If this painting is one thing, it's a bridge between classical myth and Christian thought.

See how similar it is to depictions of Christ's baptism. Just as Venus was born from the waters, Christians are reborn in the waters of baptism.

But Botticelli had one more brilliant idea: notice the mantle being draped over Venus is covered in flowers.

When she comes to shore, Venus will be covered by them — because beauty hides ultimately in nature.

So, for maximum effect, Botticelli reaches for the ultimate source of beauty in nature: the Golden Ratio.

It's precisely coded into multiple aspects of the painting, from the horizon line to the golden rectangle of the canvas itself.

The result is a sort of epic treatise to love and beauty.

And perhaps the most undeniably beautiful canvas ever painted...