Italian Renaissance

One of the most important themes of the Italian Renaissance, which means rebirth, was the rediscovery of the art, myths, and legends of the Classical world. An artist who aided to this artistic rediscovery with his own views of early Roman and Greek mythology was Sandro Botticelli. Botticelli shaped attractive works that were somewhat based on myth and partially stimulated by modern literature and poetry. The combination of modern and ancient influences provides an intriguing characteristic for Renaissance and Botticelli's art.

Alessandro di Mariano Filipepi was born in Italy, in a city called Florence in 1445 in Florence. In the Early Italian Renaissance, Sandro Botticelli was one of the most famous artists. He was admired for his donations to major religious churches in Florence. Botticelli's notoriety also came from his wall frescos on the Sistine Chapel of the Vatican in Rome. He produced many of religious paintings, some of which are "The Adoration of the Magi", "Madonna of the Pomegranate", "The Cestello Annunciation", and also a couple of others that showed Roman and Greek legends, such as "Primavera", "The Birth of Venus", "Mars and Venus". The former one is an illustrative portray of the Early Italian Renaissance. It exemplifies peaceful goddess representing love, Venus following the shape of Mars sleeping, the god of hostilities. In this way Botticelli would demonstrate that love and tenderness overcome wars and hostilities. "Mars and Venus" are an extraordinary example of classical works from the Italian Renaissance that portrays images of the Greek and Roman civilizations. Lastly it is important to mention that Botticelli's paintings demonstrate his incredible ability to embody incredible atmospheres focusing on hidden skin tones.

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Venus and Mars

Venice Map

Venice

REFERENCES

1. Venus and Mars. National Gallery, London, Copyright 2002

http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/cgi-bin/WebObjects.dll/CollectionPublisher.woa/wa/work?workNumber=NG915