"Spring" by Sandro Botticelli: the hidden meaning of the masterpiece of the Renaissance. Sandro Botticelli "Spring" - the history of the painting
Sandro Botticelli. Spring. 1478 Uffizi Gallery, Florence
Few people knew about Botticelli's "Spring" for ... 450 years!
At first it was kept by the descendants of the Medici. Then I went to the Uffizi Gallery. But ... You won't believe it - it has lain in storerooms for 100 years!
And only at the beginning of the 20th century it was put on public display due to the fact that a famous art critic saw it. It was the beginning of glory.
Now it is one of the main masterpieces of the Uffizi Gallery. And one of the most famous paintings.
But "reading" it is not so easy. It seems to be about spring. But there are a lot of characters here.
Why are there so many? Why didn't Botticelli portray one girl as Spring?
Let's try to figure it out.
Sandro Botticelli. Spring (with decoding). 1478 Uffizi Gallery, Florence To make it easier to read the picture, mentally divide it into three parts:
The right part consists of three heroes who personify the first spring month - MARCH.
The god of the west wind Zephyr begins to blow at the very beginning of spring. With him, the reading of the picture begins.
Of all the heroes, he is the most unsightly in appearance. Blueish skin tone. Cheeks are about to burst from the tension.
But this is understandable. This wind for the ancient Greeks was unpleasant. Often brought rain and even storms.
As with people, so with divine creatures, he did not stand on ceremony. He fell in love with the nymph Chlorida, and she had no chance to escape from Zephyr.
2. CHLORIDE
Zephyr forced this gentle creature in charge of flowers to become his wife. And in order to somehow compensate for her moral experiences, he made a real Goddess out of a nymph. So Chloride turned into Flora.
Flora (nee - Chlorida) did not regret marriage. Although Zephyr took her as his wife against his will. Apparently the girl was mercantile. After all, she became much more powerful. Now she was responsible not only for flowers, but in general for all vegetation on Earth.
Francesco Melzi. Flora. 1510-1515 The following five heroes make up the APRIL group. These are Venus, Cupid and the three Graces.
The goddess Venus is responsible not only for love, but also for fertility and prosperity. So she's not just here. And the ancient Romans celebrated a holiday in her honor just in April.
Son of Venus and her constant companion. Everyone knows that this unbearable boy is especially active in the spring. And shoots his arrows left and right. Of course, without even seeing who is going to hit. Love is blind... after all, Cupid is blindfolded.
And Cupid will most likely fall into one of the Graces. Which has already looked at the young man on the left.
Sandro Botticelli. Spring (detail). 1478 Uffizi Gallery, Florence Botticelli is not original here, depicting three sisters holding each other's hands. They represent the beginning of life, beautiful and tender due to their youth. And they also often accompany Venus, helping to spread her precepts to all people.
"MAY" is represented by only one figure. But what!
7. MERCURY
Mercury, the god of trade, disperses the clouds with his rod. Well, not a bad help to Spring. To which he is related through his mother, the Maya galaxy.
It was in her honor that the ancient Romans gave the name "May" to the month. Maya herself was sacrificed on May 1st. The fact is that she was responsible for the fruitfulness of the earth. And without it, in any way in the coming summer.
Why, then, did Botticelli portray her son, and not Maya herself? By the way, she was charming - the eldest and most beautiful of the 10 galaxy sisters.
Sandro Botticelli. Mercury (fragment of the painting "Spring"). 1478 Uffizi Gallery, Florence I can't answer exactly. But I like the version that Botticelli really wanted to portray men at the beginning and end of this spring series.
Still, spring is the birth of life. And without men in this process in any way (at least in the time of the artist). After all, it was not for nothing that he depicted all women as pregnant. Laying fertility in the spring is the main thing.
Sandro Botticelli. Detail of the painting "Spring". 1478 In general, Botticelli's "Spring" is completely saturated with symbols of fertility. Above the heads of the heroes is an orange tree. Which blooms and bears fruit at the same time. Not only in the picture. It really can.
Sandro Botticelli. Detail of the painting "Spring". 1478 Uffizi Gallery, Florence And what is the cost of a carpet of five hundred real-life flowers! It's just a flower encyclopedia of some kind. It remains only to sign the names in Latin.
Painting by Sandro Botticelli "Spring" was a wedding gift from Lorenzo de' Medici to his second cousin Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco de' Medici. He was going to marry Semiramide, a girl from the noble Appiani family. "Spring" was supposed to hang over the inlaid sofa chest - lettuccio. The picture is actually not only about spring and love, it is a kind of illustration for the instruction compiled for Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco by the famous Florentine philosopher Marsilio Ficino. In it, he calls on the obstinate young man to look at Humanitas (“humanity”, “humanity”) as the highest virtue.
Ficino considers the goddess Venus to be the embodiment of humanity. “We must fix our eyes on Venus,” writes Ficino, “that is to say, Humanity. This serves as a reminder to us that we cannot possess anything great on earth without possessing the people themselves, from whose mercy all earthly things come. People cannot be caught on any other bait, except for Humanity. Therefore, be careful and do not neglect it.” The painting hung for a long time in the Medici mansion in Florence. In 1815, she entered the Uffizi Gallery. For a long time it was not exhibited, and only since 1919, when the art critic Giovanni Tucci drew attention to it, did it become the pearl of the main exhibition.
1. Venus. The goddess of love stands in the middle of an orange grove (orange is a symbol of chastity), in an arch of myrtle and laurel, holding her right hand in a blessing gesture. She is wearing a veil of a married woman (an allusion to the marriage theme). “She,” writes Ficino, “is a nymph of the greatest beauty, born from heaven and more than others beloved by God Most High. Her soul and mind are Love and Mercy, her eyes are Dignity and Generosity, her hands are Generosity and Splendor, her legs are Prettiness and Modesty. The whole is Moderation and Honesty, Pleasantness and Majesty. O wondrous beauty! How beautiful to behold. My good Lorenzo, such a noble nymph is completely given over to your power (the marriage theme is played up again. - Approx. Aut.). If you marry her and call her yours, she will make your years sweet, and you yourself a father of excellent children.
2. Three graces. These are the moons of Venus. Ficino calls them Feeling, Intellect and Will. “And since,” he writes, “it [feeling] is not a mental act, then one of the graces is drawn with a face turned towards us, as if moving forward and not intending to go back; the other two, since they relate to the intellect and will, which have the function of reflection, are depicted with a face turned back, like that of one who returns.
3. Mercury. The messenger of the gods is depicted wearing winged sandals. He was the son of the nymph Maya, after whom the month of May is named in Latin, in which the wedding of Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco took place. With the help of a caduceus (a rod entwined with snakes), he disperses the clouds so that nothing darkens the spring mood of the garden of Venus. It is believed that in the image of Mercury, Botticelli portrayed Lorenzo Medici, the customer of the painting.
4. Zephyr and the nymph Chloris. This is an illustration for an excerpt from Ovid's poem "Fasty" - the west wind Zephyr chases Chloris and takes possession of her: “Somehow in the spring I caught Zephyr's eyes; I left, / He flew after me: he was stronger than me ... / Nevertheless, Zephyr justified violence, making me his wife, / And I will never grumble at my marriage union. After her marriage, Chloris (a periwinkle curls from her mouth - a symbol of true love) turned into the goddess of Spring and flowers, which Botticelli depicts right there, thereby using the technique of simultaneity - the simultaneous depiction of successive events.
5. Spring. The following lines from Fast relate to it: “Spring is the best time: / All the trees are green, the earth is all green. / A fertile garden blooms in the fields, as a dowry for me ... / My husband decorated my garden with a beautiful flower dress, / So he said to me: “Forever be the goddess of flowers!” / But to count all the colors on the flowers scattered everywhere, / I could never: there is no number to their number. In the painting by Botticelli, Spring scatters roses, as was customary at rich Florentine weddings. Her dress is embroidered with red and blue cornflowers - symbols of friendliness and good nature. You can also see strawberries in a wreath around the neck of Spring - a symbol of tenderness, a camomile - a symbol of fidelity and a buttercup - a symbol of wealth.
6. Cupid. Companion of the goddess of love. Blindfolded (love is blind), he aims a fiery arrow at one of the graces. Perhaps Botticelli portrayed himself in the image of Cupid.
Photo: BRIDGEMAN/FOTODOM
This work was painted by a great Italian artist, a representative of the Renaissance, Sandro Botticelli (in reality Alessandro di Mariano di Vepi) in 1482. As it turned out quite recently, the painting was intended as a gift for the wedding day of the then powerful representative of the noble and wealthy clan of Lorenzo Medici. And the artist, taking up the execution of the order, had an idea about the expected size, plot and location of the picture.
Currently, "Spring" is exhibited in the world-famous Florentine Uffizi Gallery, taking its rightful place among other masterpieces of Italian masters such as Raphael, Giorgione and Titian.
The plot of the painting was inspired by the then very common works of Lucretius and Ovid. Looking at the canvas, the famous lines from "On the Nature of Things" emerge:
Here is Spring, and Venus is coming, and ... The messenger is coming ahead, and, after Zephyr, ... Flora-mother is walking ...
How accurately emphasized and artistically clothed in images in the picture Venus, Mercury, Zephyr and Flora Botticelli! It is with this picture that the characters of Lucretius are now inextricably linked. More characters appeared from the poem "Fasty": Kharites and Chlorida. The painter's imagination clothed the ethereal fictional images of ancient poets in very real heroes of the picture.
The main and indisputable person of the picture is Venus - the goddess of love and fragrant gardens. Her posture: her head tilted slightly to one side and her hand raised up, as if approving the ongoing actions in the picture, her face is thoughtful. The significance of Venus is emphasized by the hidden symbolism of the goddess: the interweaving of trees and myrtle, forming an arch above her head, Cupid is depicted above her head - an infant angel, shooting arrows of love.
To the left of Venus, holding hands, the Charites are dancing: Thalia, Aglaya and Euphrosyne. The elegance and attractiveness of these goddesses of joy and fun are emphasized by the graceful poses in the movements of the dance and the finest fabrics that envelop their figures. The artist skillfully emphasized the brilliance of the fusion of dancing maidens. The airiness of the picture gives the effect of weightlessness of the depicted characters - it seems as if they are hovering above the ground or barely touching.
Despite the abundance of black tones, the work does not seem gloomy and gloomy. The blackness of the earth shows the abundance of black soil, all the more striking is the abundance of flowering plants scattered by Botticelli throughout the canvas. When counting, it turned out that their number was approaching 500! Orange trees bend under the weight of ripe fruits. Everything breathes in spring and awakening nature!
Currently, art critics are looking for a clue - what was the meaning of the painter in his picture? Many are inclined towards religious significance, believing that the symbolism of gestures and postures belongs to the Madonna, who is guessed in the features of Venus. Many theories suggest mythology - after all, the canvas depicts ancient characters in a flowering garden. Historians defend their point of view - a picture was painted for the wedding and presented as a moral lesson to the bride with a hint that the future groom had many side connections.
But no matter how many disputes and frictions, this does not detract from the significance and beauty of the "Spring" of the famous Botticelli.
The plot of the painting "Spring" Sandro Botticelli borrowed from two ancient Roman poets - Ovid and Lucretius. Ovid spoke about the origin of the goddess of spring and flowers Flora. The once young beauty was not a goddess, but a nymph named Chloris. Zephyr, the god of the wind, saw her and fell in love with her and forcibly took her as his wife. Then, to atone for his mad impulse, he turned his beloved into a goddess and gave her a delightful garden. It is in this garden that the action of the great painting by Botticelli unfolds. As for Lucretius, the great master of Renaissance painting found the idea for creating the composition of "Spring" from him.
The figures depicted in the picture contain many meanings. First of all, they symbolize the spring months. Zephyr, Chloris and Flora - this is March, because spring brings the first breath of the Zephyr wind. Venus with Cupid soaring above her, as well as graces whirling in a dance - April. The son of the goddess Maya Mercury is May.
History of creation
One of his main masterpieces, Botticelli created by order of the all-powerful Duke of Florence, Lorenzo de' Medici. He needed her as a wedding present for his close relative Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco. Therefore, the symbolism of the picture is closely connected with the wish for a happy and virtuous family life.
Central images
Venus is presented here primarily as a virtuous goddess of conjugal love, which is why her appearance is similar to that of the Madonna. Graceful graces are the embodiment of female virtues - Chastity, Beauty and Pleasure. Their long hair is intertwined with pearls, symbolizing purity. Young Flora walks with a leisurely gait, throwing beautiful roses on her way. This is how it was customary to do at weddings. Above the head of the goddess of love, Venus, winged Cupid hovers blindfolded, because love is blind.
Almost all the female characters in the picture, primarily Venus and Flora, outwardly resemble the untimely deceased first beauty of Florence, Simonetta Vespucci. There is a version that the artist was secretly and hopelessly in love with her. Perhaps it was thanks to this reverent, chaste love that Botticelli managed to create such a sublime canvas.
The fate of a masterpiece
For a long time, "Spring" was kept in the house of Pierfrancesco. Until 1743, Botticelli's masterpiece belonged to the Medici family. In 1815, he was in the collection of the famous Uffizi Gallery. However, at that time the name of Sandro Botticelli was almost forgotten, and no attention was paid to the picture. Only in the second half of the 19th century, the English art historian John Ruskin rediscovered the work of the great Florentine, making it available to the general public. Today "Spring", along with another masterpiece by Botticelli - "The Birth of Venus", is one of the pearls of the gallery.
The Renaissance gave humanity incredible beauty of the canvas. Moreover, many of them contain hidden symbols and meanings. One of these masterpieces is "Spring" Sandro Botticelli. There is much more to this beautiful painting than meets the eye. Some symbols and allegories of this amazing canvas will be discussed in this review.
Sandro Botticelli wrote "Spring" ( Primavera) commissioned by Lorenzo de' Medici. The painting was supposed to be his wedding gift for another of this noble family - second cousin Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco. The picture became not just an image of one of the favorite mythological scenes at that time, but a philosophical parting word for a future marriage. Almost all elements of "Spring" contain certain symbols or allegories.
Venus is depicted in the very center of the picture in an orange grove (it was this tree that was the symbol of the Medici family). But this is not a brilliant and fatal goddess, but a modest married woman (which can be understood from her veil). Her right hand is raised in a blessing gesture. When Botticelli passed on his creation to Lorenzo, he focused on the figure of Venus. If he succeeds in marrying such a noble goddess, then his life will be voluptuous and happy.
The Three Graces represent the feminine virtues: Chastity, Beauty and Pleasure. Pearls on their heads symbolize purity. The graces seem to be in the same round dance, but their movements are separated. Chastity and Beauty are depicted in front, and Pleasure is in the back, and her attention is riveted to Mercury.
Mercury in mythology personified reason and eloquence. In ancient Rome, the month of May was dedicated to him, named after the mother of the deity, the nymph Maya. In addition, the wedding of Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco was scheduled for this particular month.
In order to portray Spring, Botticelli presented a whole three figures. This was a reference to the myth of how the spring wind Zephyr fell in love with the nymph Chloris and thus turned her into the goddess of flowering Spring. From the mouth of Chloris, a periwinkle flies (a symbol of fidelity), which becomes a continuation of the next figure. So the artist showed the transformation of a nymph into a goddess. In addition, this composition has become a symbol of the first spring month.
Spring (Flora) appeared in the picture in the form of a young maiden in a dress decorated with flowers. Slowly speaking, she scatters roses (as they did at weddings). The flowers on the dress were also not chosen by chance. Cornflowers are a symbol of friendliness, buttercups are wealth, chamomile is fidelity, and strawberries are tenderness.
Above the head of Venus is her son Cupid, who aims at one of the Graces. His eyes are blindfolded - love is blind. According to one version, Sandro Botticelli portrayed himself in the image of Cupid.
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