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| La Primavera Google Art Project |
In Botticelli’s room at the Uffizi, many are drawn to the
famous Birth of Venus but it is the
larger, darker Primavera that
commands the space. One of Botticelli’s most enigmatic pieces, La Primavera meaning spring is a visual
masterpiece. Painted in 1482 for the wedding of Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco de’
Medici and Semiramide Appiani, Primavera
is a deeply iconographical piece with the subject matter coming stemming from
Ancient Greek and Roman mythology.
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| The Three Graces |
In this mythological allegory the elongated elegance of the
figures, the five hundred naturalistic flowers creating the meadow, and the
overall composition lead to the pure visual poetry of the piece as a whole. The
scene takes place in Venus the goddess of not only
love, but also of the gardens, realm. Her sacred grove is made up of orange
trees, the Medici family’s symbol as well as apple and myrtle. The goddess herself stands in front of a dark
myrtle bush, a plant that she had used to clothe her nakedness when she was born
from the sea. The other eight figures seem to float on the forward plane of the
piece parting to give ample space to Venus in the center. The trees around her also part, allowing for
a view of the sky, thus creating a halo affect around her. Venus represents the goodwill
of the piece, as it is her role to distinguishes the material values on the
right and the spiritual values on the left. Above
Venus, her blindfolded son Cupid is raring back to shoot an arrow into one of the
Three Graces. He is the procreative
impulse of nature, with his flame-tipped arrows causing living things to fall
into natures (Venus’) path. The entangled Three Graces to the left of Venus
almost act as one entity on the picture plane. The diaphanous quality of their
clothing is reminiscent of Lippi’s clothing and bear jewels in the color of the
Medici family. Their relevance to the overarching theme of spring is as the
attendants to Venus as well as the springtime Horae. Next to the Graces stands
Mercury the messenger of the gods, as revealed by his winged sandals. There is
other textual evidence namely the 1616 work by Girolamo Aleandrothat identifies
Mercury as the god of the sun in the springtime as well as the month of May.
There is also evidence that points to his role as a wind god, thus explaining
his action in the corner, softening the clouds in a thin misty with his wand
before they can encroach on the sunny spring day. In 1988, Horst Bredekamp put
forth most emphatically the equivocation the mercury is in fact Lorenzo Medici.
This idea is not backed by any particular evidentiary support but does lead to
other ideas of his wife, Semiramide being represented as either the center
grace, or Venus herself.
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| Flora, Chloris, and Zephyr |
To the right of the painting Zephyr (the blue faced young man), the God of wind
chases the nymph Chloris, who turns into the goddess Flora. Whereas Chloris’
name stems from the literal quality of the greenness around her, Flora’s name comes
from the latin word for flower. Flora representing the fertility of nature,
reaches into her satchel and scatters flowers over the world. Seeing as spring
is a perennial symbol of rebirth, the transformation of Chloris into Flora is fitting,
as is her action of spreading life over the world. Spring is shown in
two phases: from its beginning, with the blowing of the west wind (Zephyr) to
its fullness in the month of April represented by Venus; and from April to its
end in May, presided over by Mercury.
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