Course Readings: Web Gallery

Primavera, Panel, Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco de' Medici's Palace, Florence, Italy (1482) by Sandro Botticelli

Primavera means Spring, and this painting possesses a number of attributes associated with that time of year. Orange trees form a sort of canopy above the characters while flowers appear below. Long associated with Spring, Venus, the goddess of love and marriage, stands in the middle of this composition. To her left dance her servants, the three graces, Euphrosyne (joy), Thalia (fruitfulness) and Aglaea (beauty), each of whom represents a different aspect of Venus. Blindfolded Cupid, Venus' son, floats above Venus, aiming an arrow at the graces. Mercury stands at the far left with his caduceus, preventing the clouds from entering Venus' garden.

The blue, scary-looking figure descending from the trees at right is Zephyr, the Greek god of wind. He is reaching down toward Chloris, the virgin nymph. According to Greek mythology, Zephyr raped Chloris, turning her into the goddess Flora who personified spring. And indeed, the figure between Chloris and Venus is none other than Flora, who wears what looks like one of those Laura Ashley floral-print dresses.

A number of elements link this painting to the powerful Medici family. The oranges resemble the balls that figure prominently on the Medici coat of arms. The golden flames that appear on Mercury's garment are associated with Saint Lawrence, Lorenzo's namesake. Mercury's caduceus marks him as a messenger of the gods, but it also represented healing and doctors (as it does today)—and Medici meant "doctor."

Can it surprise anyone that Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco de' Medici placed this painting outside the nuptial chamber right before his wedding? Some art historians have suggested that this work sought to express the types of virtues a wife ought to possess. In this scene, the perfect, chaste Venus wears the headdress of a married Florentine woman. We have no record of what Semiramide d'Appiano, Lorenzo's bride, thought about this piece, but it seems she had to live up to a pretty high standard.