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Dana Warren
Brown
Introduction into Humanities I
201-X4745
A Legacy of Beauty
When beauty comes to mind, an image of decadence often is
described. The Parisian runway, Lady Gag’s latest video, or the inside of the powder
room in women’s water closets. There is another side of the coin. It lies underneath
the lick linens that block unmarried girls from the outside world, it is in the extra three
inches on a Sunday dress. Perhaps classic depictions of beauty can offer a balance in
the dialogue of female beauty. The Birth of Venus, a tempura work by Botticelli is not
filled with jewels or precious metals to be presented at the feet of a goddess.
Likewise, Politian’s Stanza per la Giostra, commission by Lorenzo c. 1476, does not
overly complicate the coronation of the divine daughter. Both pieces, completed
within a decade of each other, provide a simple, succinct portrait of the goddess of
love. Many believe beauty is a gaudy show meant to tease the world. However, by
following the lead of Politian and Botticelli, it can be seen that less is more.
Perhaps it is hard to view Botticelli’s Birth of Venus and believe that
less is more. Truth be told, naturally a goddess wear nothing is indeed showing more.
The tempura, painted by Botticelli around 1482-5, is the commemoration of the love
goddess’ birth. Venus, the roman epitome of beauty, arose from the seafoam after the
water god Poseidon had a piece of him dismembered. Using pastel coloring and soft,

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sweeping brush strokes, the artist draws one’s eyes straight toward the goddess.
Unlike most
emerging art from
the Italian
renaissance,
Botticelli ignored
the rule of third.
Instead of
centering the
action on a
specific third of
the painting, he
spread the scene
throughout the
canvas. This,
along with the
highlighting on
Venus’ skin draws the eyes towards the center, rather than mainly to the sides. In this
painting, we also see a woman to Venus’ left (the viewer’s right). This woman is fully
clothed, running onto the scene carrying an ornate cloth. This is Horae, minor goddess
of the harvest under Demeter. The angle of her body implies the rushed movement
and her intention: to hurry and clothing the unbashful Venus.
The Italian Renaissance was a period of awakening. Science,
technology, literature, and art flourished. It was a time when oppressive, conventional
wisdom was ignored in order that society would improve. The woman to Venus’ left

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is the status quo of society. It demands a certain dress and behavior. These mandates
are not to the standards of a goddess. The lines of her arms and inclination of her head
reject the woman’s standards. The woman is done up, and primed ready to let the
world see her. But we the viewers can make nothing of this women, besides her
insistence that Venus abide by standards not meant for Venus. In modern times,
women are expected to abide by a secret, yet well know set of rules. Do this, wear
that, behave in this way and society will laud you. In this painting, Botticelli blatantly
ignores that standards set by society on the appearance a woman, the fabled most
beautiful woman, should have. He ignores it and in doing so, and audience can see
Venus’ beauty for full value. From the crown of her head, to the slope of her feet, she
remains a goddess.
Shakespeare wrote, “A rose by any other name would still smell as
sweet.” The author does not need to go into to immense detail because we have all
seen and smelled a rose at least once. Here, the reader is already captivated by the
memory of roses. The reader doesn’t worry about what other names a rose maybe
called. Because a rose is a rose, at the end of the day. Just so, when Poliziano breaks
into describing Venus’ birth he is not flashy or wordy,
“[A] young woman with nonhuman countenance, is
carried on a conch shell, wafted to shore by
playful zephyrs; and it seems that heaven
rejoices in her birth” (Poliziano, 1475-8)
His phrasing, though poetic, is simple. He does not spend two pages

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describing a single warp in the conch shell, like Homer or Virgil might. He is clear to
the point. Even in mentioning the catalyst to her birth, the “genital member”, the
reader receives the image quite thoroughly. It requires no further words. In this way,
Poliziano bucks the popular paradigm set in place by previous authors and even the
culture around his self. Much like the fully dressed woman of Botticelli’s tempura,
popular culture had begun to be excessive in appearances and behavior, not long sense
seen during the Dark Ages. He does not describe an ornate crown or tightly wound
tresses as a means of verifying the regality of the goddess’ birth. “Rich necklaces,
with which they three girded their own necks” (Poliziano, 1475). Even though Venus
is the goddess of the hour, she is not adorned any more than her attendants. This
shows the reader Poliziano’s view of the newborn goddess. He does not elevate her to
an incomparable height which man could not imagine. Instead, he pays her the due
she is owed and continues on to the next section of his work. This is a commentary on
how beauty evolves unchecked within a culture. The Italian author could have created
one work devoted to Venus’ birth. Each volume could have been dedicated to her
eyes, then her neck, and her hair, then her feet, and back to her hands. Not only would
this make for an even more lengthy work, but it would diminish the mystery that is
the goddess. It would cheapen her beauty in the act of overly describing every detail,
rather than hinting at her all surpassing beauty and allowing the human mind to fail at
filling in the blanks.
These works began an era on which women would be compared. Like
the eras before, it held a new standard of beauty. Women took a look at Botticelli's
Venus and most likely wondered how their bodies compared. Likewise, many women
would have heard of Lorenzo's commission of la Giostra, and wished to be lauded as
the goddess was at her birth. And looking at the general population of Italy now, there

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are not many women who are naturally blonde, therefore I would think it was difficult
to be brunette when the very goddess of Roman beauty was golden haired. Without
meaning, women naturally compared themselves to mythical gods due to the
pressures Italian society had already place upon them. This process has not changed
from the past to the present. Young women squint at supermodels and fashion
magazines. They read literature passages and consider if they could compare to
fictional heroines. The difference that I believe sets these different time periods was
the authors' intention. Today, we focus on out doing ourselves. We continue to build
and raise the standard higher. But Poliziano and Botticelli made what they felt was a
realistic depict of a goddess from a story they had once heard.
In is interesting to note that, while these mirrored works were
completed within five years of one another, it is clear that Poliziano's Stanza di per la
Giostra was the inspiration for Botticelli's Venus. And though it may appear as both
represent the same. It is their differences that helped to form society as it is today. I
have not read la Giostra in its entirety, however, I know that the few paragraphs on
the birth of Venus are a small part in a larger work. This written piece was
commissioned by a man for another man, not a woman. Therefore, it is not strange
that a woman, even a goddess, is not the center piece in the epic poem. A suitable
commentary on Poliziano's minute description of the goddess could be due to the
value of women in past Italian society. The goddess Venus, outside of Iuno and
Minerva, was a prominent figure in Ancient Roman culture. She is one of the twelve
Olympians and the goddess of beauty and love. She had her own temple and
multitude of followers. However, a woman being a part of the public scene was not
standard for 15th century Italy. A prevailing idea was that women were to be seen as
attractive. Poliziano accomplishes this in his short, albeit honoring dedication to the

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goddess.
Botticelli takes a different road in painting the lovely goddess. He
could have chosen to have every attending host in the fore and background. He could
have had Iuppiter and Iuno, with Demeter, Vulcan, and Ares all around. Even a
castrated Uranus could have hung in the background. This sort of painting would have
kept Venus from being in the spotlight. Instead, Botticelli places the goddess dead
center. Her nudity, which was groundbreaking for the time period, is in full view save
for one breast and her mons pubis. This Venus is accompanied only by Zephyr,
Chloris, and Horae-all of whom are minor Greco-Roman deities. In this tempura,
Venus' birth superseded by any other events.
It is because of this that I believe Botticelli's The Birth of Venus is a
more widely known relic of the Italian Renaissance than la Giostra. When 21st
women look on the idea of Venus, we picture her coyly covering her body in regality.
This piece was one of the first large oil paints and also broke ground with its
provocative posing. In later years, this has served as a means of women regain their
sensuality without needing to compromise their integrity. I believe it also brought
about a culture of women who were not overtly aggressive in their expression.
Though Venus, as described through Roman mythology, was indeed an "active" lover,
her far off glance given in Botticelli's depict decreases her assertiveness. This enables
the women looking to not feel as pressured in learning to express their sensualities or
what they may feel in beautiful.
And beauty has changed a great deal sense this painting was finished.
Women are no longer legally persecuted for being a "temptation". Women celebrate
what they feel makes them beautiful. We see this through the creation and boosting of

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apps like Instagram and Snap Chat. These tools, complete with lighting amenities and
other filters, allow its users to find their best side and explore different depictions of
beauty all at once.
Consider the photo. This is an original I recently purchased at my local
Mayfest. Like the original Birth of Venus, this painting is an oil painting. The artist
chose to use a glaze on top to preserve the pigment, similar to how a coating was also
added to the Venus. However, that is where the similarities end. Though there are no
other characters to distract
from the Venus of this piece,
she is not the natural beauty
that generations have come to
love. Poliziano and Botticelli
both chose to be humble in
their depictions of the
amorous deity, but their focus
was to relay her beauty in the
end. Therefore, even with this
gaudy interpretation more
fitting of the Rococo era, I
believe it is a product of the
world we live in today.
Though I cannot say if
Botticelli himself would have
chosen the same
accompanying images, this Venus, like Botticelli's and that in la Giostra, represents

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one artist's idea of what "beautiful" is for society's women. The Early Renaissance
period may have preferred and catered to women of limited makeup who "woke up
like dis", however, in today's current standards more effort is expect. Even so, "A rose
by any other name, would still smell as sweet." Whether the woman is a natural
beauty or lipstick diva, she is no less the expression of what is beautiful in culture,
each one is a piece of Venus's nadir. After all, we are only human; measuring up to a
god is too much for any one woman to bear.

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Works Cited
Botticelli, Sandro. Birth of Venus. 1482-85. Uffizi, Florence, Italy. Guide to the Uffizi
Gallery Museum. Uffizi Org. Web. Sunday, May 1, 2016
Poliziano, Angelo. Stanze Di Messer Angelo Politiano Cominciate per La Giostra Del
Magnifico Giuliano Di Pietro De' Medici. 1475-8. Florence. Oneonta University.
Web. 5 May 2016.
Rice, Jamie. Venus, Remix. 2015. Oil on Canvas.
Shakespeare, William. "Romeo and Juliet." The Complete Works of Shakespeare:
Illustrated. Ann Arbor, MI: BState Street, 2001. Print.