Botticelli helps you change Art Doctor Quickies Sandro Botticelli La Primavera c 1480

Hello everyone and welcome to Art Doctor Quickies, where we take an in-depth yet brief look at one work of art. And today it's one of my favorites, one I had hanging on my dorm room wall at university, Sandra Botticelli's renaissance masterpiece, La Primavera, or The Spring. Now here in Australia, we are currently experiencing a gorgeous, mellow, and fruitful autumn. However, northern hemisphere gal that I am, I always think of this painting in the months of March, April, and May. Painted sometime in the late 1470s to early 1480s, this is the kind of artwork that just stops you in your tracks. It's beautiful, interesting, and a little bit beguiling. It was painted for the Medicis, that wealthy and influential family whose merchant money enticed great artists away from the church and had them painting secular, even pagan, subjects for their gorgeous private palaces. And here we have a cast of pagan characters, mostly taken from the ancient Roman poet Ovid, frolicking in an orange grove, a symbol of the Medici family. Now this doesn't depict a particular story per se, which is why it's often called an allegory of spring. An allegory is an image depicting lots of symbolic characters and objects that the viewer has to decipher to reveal the moral message. A bit like a riddle, but not as literal. The painting is read from right to left. We start with the cold wind of March, the god Zephyr, rushing from the right side of the painting to grab slash kidnap slash sexually assault the nymph Chloris, who is associated with flowers. We can see that because not only does she have little shadows of flowers on her dress, they are literally coming out of her mouth as she turns to face Zephyr. He marries her, which I guess in ancient Roman tradition makes everything okay, and she becomes the goddess Flora, who is depicted next to the couple moving out triumphant after her transformation with an armful of roses ready to throw them at the viewer's feet. I love Flora's face, how confident she looks after her transformation. No longer the shy and unsure nymph, she literally blossoms. Also, can we take a moment to admire not only the dragonfly wings she wears as sleeves, but the beautifully detailed depictions of flowers on her dress? Including all the wonderful plants on the forest floor, Botticelli depicted over 500 different species of plants in this painting, including 190 species of flower, only 130 of which have actually been identified so far. Now that is commitment to detail. Next to Flora is the central figure, Venus, the goddess of love and the goddess of April. Dressed like a contemporary woman of the time, she puts a veil on her hair, indicating she's married. There are theories that this painting was done for a marriage, which would make sense. Venus extends her hand in a gesture of welcome, and who is she welcoming? Well, the person she's looking at, you, us. We are invited into whatever is happening in this orange grove. And by the way, she's not pregnant. I know the swelling belly suggests it, but it was totally the fashion to look pregnant at this time, and you can see the same belly in the figures of the other women here, too. My only question is, when is this style coming back? Because my belly is ready to make its catwalk debut. Venus always rolls deep, and flying above her head is Cupid, that mischief maker who shoots his arrows of love at random, being blindfolded. His current victim is one of the three Graces, sisters who always follow Venus. Here they are, gracefully dancing, which is very on brand. We're not exactly sure what their names are, but the best guess is Pleasure, Chastity, and Beauty. And who has Cupid targeted? Why, Chastity, of course. And she looks longingly over her shoulder at Mercury, the god of May, dressed as a soldier guarding the garden. He's oblivious to Chastity staring as he raises his wooden rod to bat away the last clouds of spring before the glorious summer. So this is about the progress of spring and the transformation of the natural world through time, from the cold winds of March, to the lushness of April, to the sunshine of May. But it's also a picture of personal transformation and change. Chloris is transformed from flower-loving nymph to the goddess of flowers. Chastity is transformed by Cupid's arrow from a doting sister and Venus fangirl to a distracted lover. And Mercury will be transformed too, if he doesn't watch out. So these aren't changes in general, they are changes made by love. Part of the allegory here is literally the title of Alvin's book, Metamorphosis. It's about how love transforms, though the process might not always be easy or straightforward. I do not condone being kidnapped and marrying your captor, by the way. But I'm all for love disrupting your life and relationships. I've been there. Though it's terrifying to encounter love, you are always the better for going after it. Flora and Venus look at us. Venus extends her arm in invitation and welcome. Will you join them? Will you be changed by love? I hope you've enjoyed this little romp with the gods and goddesses of spring. As always, I've left some links in the description box below if you'd like to know more about La Primavera. And whether you're in spring or autumn right now, I wish you lots of love and all the surprises it brings. See you next time.