History Art / TheBirthOfVenusBotticelli

The painting is currently on display in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, UsefulNotes/{{Italy}}.

ArtImitatesArt, so there are plenty of references and parodies in the trope TheBurlesqueOfVenus.

''The Birth of Venus'' (Italian: ''La nascita di Venere'') is a tempera {{painting|s}} created by UsefulNotes/{{Floren|ce}}tine painter Creator/SandroBotticelli. It was finished in 1486 and counts among the most iconic works of art coming from the [[UsefulNotes/TheRenaissance Italian Renaissance]].

* AdaptationalModesty: The depiction of Venus was [[ArtImitatesArt based on the]] ''Capitoline Venus'', a type of statue of Venus where the naked goddess is desperately trying to cover her naked form, covering her breasts with her right hand, and her groin with her left hand.
* ArtifactTitle: As it turns out, Botticelli never named his painting -- it was art historians from the [=XIXth=] century who did that. And they, well, screwed up. The painting's subject is not Venus' birth per se but the newborn Venus about to step onto the island of Cythera (which was considered the place where she was born). A more fitting title would be ''Venus Arriving from her Birthplace''.

* GodivaHair: Venus covers her crotch with her long hair.
* GoldAndWhiteAreDivine: Venus has long golden hair, and the only article of clothing she's wearing (a ribbon to tie it back) is white.
* HandOrObjectUnderwear: Venus is covering her breasts with her right arm and using his left hand to cover her vagina with her hair.

* NakedOnArrival: Myth/GreekMythology states that Venus or Aphrodite was born a fully-formed woman out of sea foam -- and, naturally, she wasn't wearing a stitch. The painting depicts the moments next to her birth, where she has already emerged from the sea but has yet to be dressed by one of the minor deities. Like in the myths, her nudity matches her status as the Goddess of Love and Sexuality. Furthermore, for Renaissance art, nudity is a shorthand for divine nature.

* SceneryCensor: Although it's technically a nude rendition of Venus, her hands cover her breasts and her hair is conveniently long enough to cover her genitals.

* GoldAndWhiteAreDivine: Venus has long golden hair, and the only article of clothing she's wearing (a ribbon to tie is back) is white.

Compare ''Art/{{Primavera}}'', Botticelli's other big painting starring Venus. Not to be confused with the Art/VenusDeMilo sculpture nor with the equally named paintings of [[Art/TheBirthOfVenusBouguereau Bouguereau ]] and [[Art/TheBirthOfVenusCabanel Cabanel]].

* GodivaHair: Venus covers her crotch with her long hair.

It depicts the goddess [[LoveGoddess Venus]] of Myth/ClassicalMythology arriving at the shore after her birth when she had emerged from the sea fully-grown (called ''Venus Anadyomene'' and often depicted in art). While not the only painting to take the name ''Art/TheBirthOfVenus'', Botticelli's painting is definitely the most recognizable.

* MagicalBarefooter: The figures in the painting are Venus and three lesser deities, and no one is wearing shoes. Furthermore, Zephyr, the god of wind, is using his powers to blow the recently-born Venus from the sea to the shore. Also, one of the nymphs is flying alongside the group.

* ContrappostoPose: A fairly low-key instance, but sometimes quoted as one of the classic Renaissance examples in the case of Venus' standing position.

* WhiteAndGoldAreDivine: Venus has long golden hair, and the only article of clothing she's wearing (a ribbon to tie is back) is white.

* MagicalBarefooter: The figures in the painting are Venus and three lesser deities, and no one is wearing shoes.

* HandOrObjectUnderwear: Venus is covering her breasts with her right arm and using his left hand to cover her crotch with her hair.
* LoveGoddess: Venus, the Roman Goddess of Love, is the subject of the painting.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/birth_of_venus.jpg]]

* ArtifactTitle: As it turns out, Botticelli never named his painting -- it was art historians from the [=XIXth=] century who did that. And they, well, screwed up. The painting's subject is not Venus' birth per se but the newborn Venus about to step onto the island of Cythera (which was considered the place where she was born). A more fitting title would be ''Venus Arriving at Her Birthplace''.

It depicts the goddess [[LoveGoddess Venus]] of Myth/ClassicalMythology arriving at the shore after her birth when she had emerged from the sea fully-grown (called ''Venus Anadyomene'' and often depicted in art). While not the only painting to take the name ''Art/TheBirthOf Venus'', Botticelli's painting is definitely the most recognizable.

* WaterIsWomanly: The painting famously depicts Venus, the goddess of love and beauty, emerging from the sea on a seashell.