A painting a day · No. 2 of 38
The Birth of Venus
Sandro Botticelli (c. 1445–1510)
c. 1484–1486 · Tempera on canvas · Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence
The story
The goddess of love arrives on the shore on a scallop shell, blown in by the winds, while an attendant runs to cover her with a cloak. It was one of the first large paintings of a nude goddess since ancient Rome.
Look closer
- Her pose copies a type of ancient statue, the 'modest Venus', with one hand at her breast.
- Her neck is too long and her left shoulder falls at an impossible angle. Botticelli bent the anatomy for the sake of a graceful line.
- There are touches of real gold in her hair and on the trees.
Did you know
It is painted on canvas, which was unusual in Florence at the time — canvas was cheaper and was used for pictures meant for a house rather than a church.
Why we can show it
Sandro Botticelli died in 1510. UK copyright lasts for the artist’s life plus 70 years, so even under today’s rules this painting would have been free for anyone to show since 1581. The photograph is a faithful copy of a flat work, which creates no new copyright. We do not store the picture: it comes from Wikimedia Commons each time it is needed. More on this.