Detail from La Primavera.Detail from La Primavera (Spring) (circa 1475-1478). Chloris transformed into Flora, mother of flowers Tempera tempera (tĕm`pərə), painting method in which finely ground pigment is mixed with a solidifying base such as albumen, fig sap, or thin glue. When used in mural painting it is also known as fresco secco (dry fresco) to distinguish it from the buon fresco (true fresco) applied to damp walls. on panel; 315 cm x 205 cm Sandro Botticelli La Primavera was painted for the Villa di Castello, which was owned by a branch of the Medici Medici, Italian familyMedici (mĕ`dĭchē, Ital. mā`dēchē), Italian family that directed the destinies of Florence from the 15th cent. until 1737. family. In 1815, the painting was moved to the Uffizi, where it is now. Botticelli's sophisticated understanding of perspective, anatomy, and the humanist debate of the Medici court never overshadowed the poetry of his vision. An allegory of life, beauty, and knowledge united by love, La Primavera captures the freshness of an early spring morning, with the light shining through the tall, straight trees, already laden with their golden fruit.The meaning of La Primavera has been interpreted in many ways but remains enigmatic. One persisting interpretation suggests that the mythological figures in the painting undergo transformation to show a progressive sublimation 1. the conversion of a solid directly into the gaseous state. 2. an unconscious defense mechanism by which consciously unacceptable instinctual drives are expressed in personally and socially acceptable channels. sub·li·ma·tion (s of sensual love in intellectual contemplation. This sublimation is in accordance with the harmony that governs the cosmos and is evoked in the figure of Venus. The transformation of the mythological figures, which is of neoplatonic inspiration, uses symbols and episodes from classical literature, from Hesiod (project) Hesiod - The name server of the Athena project. to Ovid, as well as interpretations of classical themes by Botticelli's contemporaries Leon Battista Alberti and Marsilio Ficino. On the right of the painting, Zephyrus (the warm wind of spring) seizes Chloris, the nymph nymph (nimf) a developmental stage in certain arthropods, e.g., ticks, between the larval form and the adult, and resembling the latter in appearance. who will be transformed into Flora, mother of flowers. At the center of the painting, through the mediation of Eros and Venus (Ficino's Venus Humanitas, who arouses passion but also converts it into contemplation), the transformation moves on to the Three Graces Graces, in Greek mythology, personifications of beauty, charm, and grace; daughters of Zeus and the oceanid Eurynome. Also known as the Charites, they were usually three in number and were called Aglaia, Thalia, and Euphrosyne. The Graces were associated with Aphrodite and those gods associated with the arts, such as the Muses. In Rome they were called Gratiae.. The Graces, an ancient symbol of liberality (Aglaia Aglaia (ăglā`ə): see Graces. who gives, Euphrosyne Euphrosyne (y  frŏs`ənē'): see Graces. who receives, Thalia who returns), in the most properly platonic sense, allude to the relationship between the divine element and the human. On the left, Mercury dispersing clouds marks the definitive arrival of the spiritual moment. Put in these terms, the theme of the painting may appear pedantic; however, Botticelli leaves the extrinsic extrinsic /ex·trin·sic/ (eks-trin´sik) of external origin.ex·trin·sic (  k-strn meaning unresolved and controversial. Abstracted from Great Museums of the World, Uffizi Florence. Milan: Newsweek, Inc., and Arnold Mondadori Editore; 1968. |
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