Birth of Venus
Goddess emerges seashell
The Birth of Venus is a painting by Sandro Botticelli, completed around 1485, depicting the goddess Venus emerging from the sea as a fully grown woman.
The image—Venus standing on a giant scallop shell, blown toward shore by wind gods—has become iconic in Western art, frequently referenced and parodied: The album cover riffs on the Birth of Venus.
The phrase sometimes describes any dramatic emergence or unveiling.
- BotticelliQuattrocento painter from Florence
- Italian RenaissanceCultural rebirth in Florence
- goddess of loveDivine embodiment of romance
- goddessFemale sacred being
- shellHard outer covering
half shell · foam · waves · Renaissance · Florence · Uffizi · beauty · nude · mythology · Aphrodite · flowing · flowing hair · hair · zephyr · west wind · nymph · sea · rose
- artfine art, Renaissance, painters, masterpieces, paint
- Famous PaintingsMona Lisa, Starry Night, Guernica, American Gothic, The Scream
- MasterpiecesMona Lisa, Last Supper, Starry Night, The Scream, David
- VenusAphrodite, morning star, evening star, love goddess, Roman goddess
- art historyart history, Renaissance, Baroque, Impressionism, modern art
- RenaissanceLeonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael, Botticelli, Mona Lisa