Desire, Transformation and the Mythology of Spring
An exploration of Botticelli’s masterpiece, Primavera
Desire has the the power to transform us. We like to believe in the modern world that we are distinct individual automatons that act upon the world and each other, without having any real impact. That we can fall in love, have sex, make friends, go through time, untouched by the changes that nature consistently reminds us of with her yearly dance. That our desires have no bearing on who we are or what we can become.
Botticelli’s Primavera is a painting that we need more than ever today to remind us of the transformative realities of sex and love, with a decidedly more demure and holy looking Venus at the centre of this mythical dance. There is a wonderful mystery at the centre of this painting, and as I pull the thread, the beauty will bloom forth and bring this painting to life in such a way that you will not be able to look at this painting, or spring or desire the same way again. Such is the power of great art.
But how can we decipher this enigmatic painting? What is it about this painting that draws people in and makes them fly across oceans to examine it in person? Do we understand, at some level, the pictorial poem even though we cannot put it into words? Let us begin first, by examining the artist himself.
Alessandro di Vanni Filipepi is best known by his nickname given to him by his older brother, “Botticelli” which means little barrel, and in 1486, he made one of the most iconic paintings in human history, Primavera. Botticelli began his career as a goldsmith; however, at age eighteen, he decided to change his career to become a painter, a drastic decision in this time period when eighteen year old men were completing their training, not beginning it, as we do today. He trained under Fra Lippo Lippi, a Carmelite monk, and grew to become one of the most influential and famous painters of the Renaissance and certainly in Florence.
Botticelli was hugely responsible for bringing the values and technique of sculpture into two dimensional painting, which was a radical progression from the often flattened aspects of the byzantine style paintings of his predecessors. We take three dimensional representations of figures for granted today in our visual world, but to think of this visual concept before it had ever been done, is a mark of great genius and creativity. Botticelli was also one of the first artists to introduce movement to painting. Prior to video cameras, it was actually very challenging to capture an image of objects mid movement. It required a perceptive and patient eye for an artist to capture the physical elements of a scarf ruffling in the air, hair blowing in the wind, or a dancer mid choreography. Botticelli’s success, if not perfection, in this regard set him apart as one of the greats.
To see these visual accomplishments for the first time would have excited and enthralled spectators. But it is fascinating that Botticelli’s work continues to intrigue people, long after we have become saturated with video camera footage and photography in our daily lives. People still gravitate to Botticelli’s representation, despite the fact that more “technically perfect” representations exist. It stands to reason that it was not representation that makes Botticelli’s work great, but something else. I believe that “something else” is the mythology of his images, and the way that the pieces work together like a song.
Because of cameras, we tend to assume that a picture is a frozen tableau that shows one moment in time. The medieval and early renaissance eye was not trained (and perhaps corrupted) by the camera and as such was much more creative with the visual world of the painting. This painting shows multiple events across time, in one scene.
Botticelli made Primavera specifically as an epithalamium, meaning a work of art that celebrates a marriage. This painting was celebrating a Medici marriage. So the theme of procreation, flourishing and life are appropriate to the occasion, but Botticelli goes much further than merely “representing” these ideas, he is a philosopher in the way that he meditates on the meaning of love, desire, flourishing and life itself. This kind of pictorial philosophy is what makes Botticelli an artist and not merely an artisan.
Concinnity is the skilful and harmonious arrangement of the different parts of something. We must do this painting some violent and break it apart into its pieces so that we can appreciate its concinnity at the end. Let us begin with the central story: