What makes the Birth of Venus so beautiful?

An icon of the Italian Renaissance, Alessandro di Mariano Filipepi’s Birth of Venus is one of the most famous paintings in the world. Filipepi, more commonly known as Sandro Botticelli, began his artistic career in his home city: Florence, Italy. After serving an apprenticeship under one of the best Florentine painters at the time, Fra Filippo Lippi, Botticelli was able to make a name for himself with his painting Allegory of Fortitude. This would later lead to Botticelli being commissioned by Lorenzo the Magnificent of the Medici family. The Birth of Venus painting—completed around the year 1485—depicts the moment the goddess Venus lands at Paphos in Cyprus, having emerged from the sea in a scallop shell. In Roman mythology, Venus—who is associated with the Greek goddess Aphrodite—is an earthly goddess known for her beauty and ability to inspire love in humans. In Botticelli’s painting, as Venus stands nude, wind gods, including Zephyrus, who fly at her left, blow her to shore. To her right, Venus is greeted by a woman, perhaps the Hora of spring, holding a cloak to cover the goddess with. Through this piece, Botticelli allows viewers to witness the act of creation of one of the most beautiful figures in mythology. This beauty is illustrated through Botticelli’s use of light colors and other symbols of beauty, like Venus’s delicate skin and flowing curls, and also the pink roses that shower her and the gold-tipped orange blossoms that await her onshore. Even Venus’s unusual proportions, such as her elongated neck and overlong left arm, contribute to the painting’s beauty. These aspects are ultimately outshone by her stance, which is based on classic statuary—highly prized in Florence at that time.