Since 1815, Botticelli’s The Birth of Venus, affectionately called “Venus on the Half Shell”, has been on display in Florence’s Uffizi Gallery. Painted in 1485, the classic nude is considered an icon of the Italian Renaissance. The large nude painting depicts the Greek goddess arriving at the shore following her birth, having emerged fully grown from the sea. The painting’s massive scale was unprecedented in the 15th century, as was the prominence of a nude female figure.
Botticelli was aware of the social constraints of painting modern female nudes, so he used the classical figure of Venus. For Venus, nudity was a natural state, and it was socially acceptable to show the goddess of sexuality unclothed. Her erotic beauty appealed to many artists and their patrons. Over time, the concept of Venus in art came to refer to any painting of a nude woman, even with no indication that the subject was the goddess.
