Topic > Interpretation of Primavera - 1445

Botticelli's Primavera can be labeled as one of the most important interpretive challenges in art history, due to the plethora of different interpretations of its meaning. Some interpret Spring as a mythological representation surrounding a marriage in the family of the painting's patron, others believe it is an allegorical representation of the arrival of spring or a symbolic representation of Neoplatonic philosophies regarding the nature of love. Although scholars disagree on what exactly Botticelli seeks to express in Primavera, most agree on the identity of the figures in the painting which include mythological figures based primarily on the works of the Greek poet Ovid. Although the exact meaning will remain unknown, considering different interpretations can help understand the notions presented and can help analyze the results accordingly. Primavera is a 2.03m x 3.1m tempera on panel painting by the famous early Renaissance Italian painter, Alessandro di Mariano di Vanni Filipepi, better known as Sandro Botticelli and is currently housed in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, Italy. D'Ancona suggests that the painting was made around 1482 and was commissioned for a member of the Medici family, a powerful political and banking house in Florence. . Paintings of such a large format were not uncommon in the private residences of wealthy families. The Primavera was part of a decoration in Pierfrancesco's house in Florence, where it was hung or fixed above a bed, which is a kind of bench that was placed and fixed to the wall in the room next to Lorenzo's bedroom. Furthermore, D'Ancona supported this idea by stating that the painting was framed in a white frame, and white is an appropriate color for weddings. Likewise, Venus and...... in the center of the card ...... stands Mercury. As Wind states, "The crux of any interpretation of Spring is to explain the role played by Mercury. Traditionally he is 'chief of the Graces'; but while this would seem to explain his place alongside them, it is difficult to reconcile his attitude disengaged, not to say indifferent." The mention of wind brings us back to the last section of the painting. On the far right three figures recall Ovid's Fasti as Zephyrus, the west wind, impregnates Chloris. “However, she made amends by making her Queen of Flowers.” As Dempsey notes, "the meaning of the Ovidian model is transformed, since Ovid does not literally describe a transformation in the Fasti, but Botticelli nevertheless imagined the event as an Ovidian metamorphosis and thus rendered, in true Ovidian style, the meaning of the Ovidian model ". event in the actions themselves".