December10
Ok. In case you didn’t notice, I have some famous people that I totally adore. Boticelli is one of them. Check out his wonderful photo (Venus and Mars) in my album. Then, read this essay, which I submitted to my college class. It’s very tedious, but I’m proud of it, as it truly is my best work.
Alessandro Filipepi (Sandro Botticelli) completed his painting Venus and Mars in 1482– right in the middle of the Renaissance of art when the humanists were bringing Classical ideas into the light of the world again. Despite being 522 years old, this 69.2 cm. x 173.4 cm. egg tempera and oil on poplar painting has remained in remarkable condition. It was originally painted as a spalliera (backboard of a bench) for the Vespucci family. There is no known record of where it went from there, but the Trafalgar National Gallery in London purchased it from Alexander Barker in 1874, and has retained possession of it since then.
This painting depicts six figures in a very vague landscape. Two of the figures are laying languidly on the ground, while the other three dance playfully around them. The background is quite ambiguous, and it doesn’t tell us anything about these figures except that there is some vegetation around them.
Mars and Venus has a balanced composition. It depicts the woman on one half of the painting wide-awake looking at a man that is deep in sleep. The woman and the man are facing each other directly with each at the other’s feet. There are four satyrs in the picture as well that balance the composition. The painting is cropped pretty close, so that the subjects fill the frame entirely. They are so tightly cropped that part of one of the satyr’s head is cut off by the edge of the picture. This tight view allows the viewer to focus entirely on the main subject of the painting. There isn’t a lot of scenery or background in the painting to distract the viewer.
This painting is organized. Alessandro Filipepi has used line competently to make the viewer feel like there is a sense of order in the painting. The viewer’s attention goes to the woman first. We notice that she is sitting slouched, yet upright. Almost as a way to tell the viewer that he should be alert, so that he doesn’t miss anything. Her gaze shoots directly at the sleeping man across the way. However, we are guided on our way to look at the man. There are three satyrs between the two main figures. They are all facing the same way—away from the woman. This is another way to get the viewer to move his focus along the length of the picture. One more thing that helps with this is the fact that the satyrs are playing with one of the man’s weapons. It is quite long, and it goes straight from female to male. All of those things aid in getting the viewers attention playfully to the sleeping man. He is in a much more relaxed position than she is. He is almost completely laying down in his sleep. It is an act of comedy that his left arm is resting on the head of a very playful satyr.
Alessandro Filipepi has been very tricky in this paining in that it uses no form of perspective to give it an illusion of being three-dimensional. If you look at the painting, it looks like everything is on the same two-dimensional plane. It looks as though the male figure is awkwardly laying on top of the bushes behind him. It also appears that the satyrs are standing on the two main figures when they are in fact supposed to be behind them. The only clue the viewer has as to the placement of things is where things are drawn in front of something else. For example, we know that the woman is in front of the bushes because she is covering part of them up.
I’m amazed at the work that Alessandro Filipepi has been able to do with the color. If you examine the painting very closely, you will see that there were no real colors used. He uses mainly brown tones. The skin is brown, the hair is brown (on all subjects) the tools are brown, even the grass and the bushes have a very brown tone to them. Upon examination, the only things in the picture that have much vibrant color are the pillows that both main figures are laying on. This small touch of color connects the entire painting together and makes up for a serious lack of color.
The texture in this painting is unbelievable. It is so incredibly round and smooth. Every part of a body that is visible looks as though it is perfectly maintained. The skin looks round and smooth. The helmet, which a satyr is playfully wearing, is incredibly smooth and shiny. This texture has made it into the fine points of the painting. If you look very closely at the leaves that have been painted, you will see that even they have a very smooth texture to them.
This painting has a very light tone to it. The female has a very serene look on her face, but she looks like she is daydreaming about something fun. The satyrs are all smiling in their attempts to break the deep sleep of the man. Even he, in his deep sleep, seems to have some hint on his face that something playful is going on. This painting playfully shows that Venus (the goddess of love) has conquered Mars (the god of war) simply by using her power of love. I’ve concluded from all of the details that the man in this painting is Mars and the Woman in this painting is Venus. The characteristics that I have discovered are ones that I have run into time and again when studying these famous people. Though this may not be the title the artist gave to the painting, it was clearly what he was trying to communicate.
This painting has some incredible power to it. It uses some very simple elements to communicate that there is joy in the world, that life can be playful and that love really can conquer all.
