Sandro Botticelli, Birth of Venus. 1485–1486

History of Art : Analysation

Prepared by Wong Wei Thong and Lim Shar Maine

Sandro Botticelli, Birth of Venus. 1485–1486. Tempera on canvas, 1.72 m x 2.78 m

BALANCE

Symmetrical Balance : Approximate (Informal) Balance. It is equivalent but not in identical form and will elicit feelings of informality and elegance.

CONTRAST

All of the characters are light in value which creates high contrast, while the background is dark in value which creates low contrast.

SPACE

Flat Space : The lack of shading and depth which will creates two-dimensional illusion to the artwork.

RYHTHM

The sea is a progressive rhythm, and the sequence of the sea creates a fast tempo of the rhythm. The curvy hair is a flowing rhythm which carries the audience’s eye to the Venus.

MOVEMENT

• The movement of Zephyrus and Aura is diagonal line which creates movement and attract audience’s attention towards Venus.

• The wind that Zephyr and Aura blow showed implied line which creates a strong impact.

• The movement of Thallo is diagonal line which creates movement and attract audience’s attention towards Venus.

SCALE

•The giant scallop shell is larger than its normal scale. Intently this focuses the audience’s attention directly towards Venus.

EMPHASIS

•Size of the characters : Taller than trees , give more attention to audience from the artwork

•Colour of the characters : Skin tone and attire, high contrast

•Isolation : Venus is isolated against the background to increase the visual weight

VARIETY

• The fabric have a smooth texture which creates a feeling of the touch of visual texture through the eyes of audience.

• Rough texture of the ground.

DOMINANCE

• Dominant : Venus has the most visual weight in the center of artwork which becomes the focal point

• Sub-dominant : Noticed after the element with the most dominance such as Zephyr and Aura, Thallo, and the giant scallop shell.