Botticelli's "The Birth of Venus" and Titian's "Venus Anadyomene" compared

¶ … Birth of Venus" and "Venus Anadyomene"

Sandro Botticelli's 1486 painting "The Birth of Venus" and Titian's 1520 painting "Venus Anadyomene" are two of history's most remarkable works depicting the Roman goddess. While the former is meant to address Venus' birth directly, the latter only hints at the event, as it is difficult to determine whether or not Titian actually wanted to portray the goddess' birth or if he simply wanted to show her rising from the sea consequent to having a bath. Botticelli's painting is displayed in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, Italy and Titian's painting is located in the National Gallery of Scotland in Edinburgh, Scotland.

According to classic mythology, Venus was born from the foaming waters of the sea, a foam that formed from the genitals of Uranus, who had them cut off by his son, Cronos, and thrown into the sea. Venus' birth is associated with a shell that is meant to parallel her appearance from the sea.

Background for each painting

Botticelli painted the artwork during the 1480s and the fact that it stood right across from the Primavera (Botticelli's 1482 artwork) in the country villa belonging to the Medici family during the 16th century influenced many to believe that the paintings were designed to work together in putting across a message. Its presence at the location during the 16th century also points toward the belief that it had been commissioned by the Medici family, probably even for Lorenzo the Magnificent, one of the family's most renowned members. "The man who commissioned them was probably Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco de' Medici, a second cousin and a ward of Lorenzo the Magnificent, for whom Botticelli certainly executed in the early 1490s a famous set of drawings illustrating Dante's Divine Comedy." (Bergin & Speake, 2004, p. 66)

Titian was well-acquainted with the fact that Apelles, a renowned painter in Ancient Greece, had painted a portrayal of Venus in association with the sea and a shell. As a consequence, he got actively involved in creating a work that would rival Apelles' and that would influence viewers to find parallels between the two works and even to attempt to determine which one was better.

Venus Anadyomene -- analysis

Titian was likely obsessed with creating artwork that rivaled Apelles, as the Greek painter was largely appreciated during the early sixteenth century. In contrast to Botticelli's Venus, Titian's is a large woman and dominates most of the painting, this pointing to the fact that the Venetian painter concentrated on having viewers focus on the goddess alone with the environment that she was in being important only to a small degree. The presence of a shell in the painting only indicates that viewers are seeing Venus's birth, as the shell itself seems of little importance otherwise. The shell is actually the only thing in the painting that enables viewers to see that the painting is meant to depict Venus' birth.

While Botticelli portrayed his Venus as a person who is aware that she is seen and as someone who does not actually care about the individuals seeing her, Titian presented a more intimate moment. It appears that his Venus is not able to observe that people are watching her and one can practically compare her to a celebrity who is chased by paparazzi and taken pictures of during some of her most personal moments. Her being concerned about squeezing the water out of her hair contributes to this feeling of intimacy and invites viewers into the painting. The painting virtually influences viewers to develop an obsessive interest in wanting to gaze at Venus.

Titian wanted to create parallels between Venus and the idea of an archetypal woman, as even though she is not as gracious as Botticelli's Venus, her generous forms emphasize her sexuality. To a certain degree, the Venetian painter wanted to demonstrate that what most people could only imagine was actually real and that he had the tools to represent it. By having his Venus resemble a woman more than other artists both contemporary and before him, Titian wanted to impress through showing the way that a woman actually needed to look like. Perfect beauty, from his perspective, was someone that was achievable and many individuals were actually beautiful even with the fact that they did not resemble the idea of perfection as promoted by numerous artists before him. The fact that Venus appears relaxed and unaware that she is being watched can be regarded as her indifferent attitude concerning individuals looking at her. Titian did not want to address the god-like attribute that people would typically associate with a character like Venus, as he simply wanted to emphasize her human side.

Works cited:

Deiming, B. (2000). Botticelli. Ediz. Inglese. Taschen.

Michelin. (2012). Tuscany Green Guide Michelin 2012-2013. MICHELIN.

"Venus Emerging from the Sea." Retrieved October 1, 2013, from http://venice.umwblogs.org/exhibit/titians-venetian-venuses/venus-emerging-from-the-sea/

"Venus Rising from the Sea ('Venus Anadyomene')." Retrieved October 1, 2013, from http://www.nationalgalleries.org/collection/etours/venus-rising/3/

"Venus Rising from the Sea ('Venus Anadyomene')." Retrieved October 1, 2013, from http://www.nationalgalleries.org/collection/artists-a-z/T/11008/artist_name/Titian%20(Tiziano%20Vecellio)/record_id/2572