Botticelli's artistic storytelling in "The Birth of Venus"

Botticelli’s artistic work in “Birth of Venus” tells a story, which can be critically analyzed without necessarily having any notion of contingent background information.

The easily identifiable ‘main character’ is the majesty of a goddess upon a very large seashell. Her ivory skin is flawless, her body is soft and brilliant. Her fiery hair is utilized in her attempt at coverage, which gives note to her natural purity and feminine modesty. Venus’ gaze does not appear to be focused or fixed on one entity. Rather, the warmth and depth of her eyes and face gives the sense that her gaze is all-encompassing and intrinsically passionate.

Venus approaches the shoreline, a boundary which prominently contrasts the features of land and of ocean to highlight the importance of the two settings and indicate that our goddess is in process of transitioning from one into the next. It does not seem such a common occurrence for a forest to lie two feet inland from a shoreline, but in depicting the land this way, Botticelli emphasizes difference between land and water.

The lines depicting water waves are also very indicative. They flow towards land and begin to break at the base of the seashell, informing us that Venus and her shell are washing into shore.

The arched body and visible stream of powerful air shooting from the mouth of one of the angelic beings towards Venus tell us that this has been her method of transportation. We see the wind from these angelic lungs affecting Venus’ hair, the dress of another woman on land who appears to be a goddess as well, and the robe that she will use to enfold the body of the exposed Venus.

Botticelli describes beautifully the transitional event of Venus blowing in from the mysterious sea into the covering of land. Much meaning can be acquired from only looking upon his painting. However, background insight may open a world of fuller understanding. For example, the ‘angelic being’ is actually Zephyr, the god of the west wind (makes sense). Zephyr gave the domain of the flowers to his sister Chloris, whom he also had abducted as a wife, which could possibly explain the pink floating flowers.