The Birth of Venus: meaning and analysis
The Birth of Venus (Italian: Nascita di Venere) is a tempera painting on canvas by the Florentine artist Sandro Botticelli (1445–1510), made around 1485 and a work of the early Renaissance. Despite its traditional title, it shows the goddess of love and beauty, born of the sea spray, arriving on the island of Cyprus on a giant scallop shell, blown ashore by the winds. It is in the Uffizi in Florence.
- What it shows: Venus stands on a giant scallop shell; on the left the winds Zephyr and, perhaps, Aura blow her ashore, and on the right a young woman holds out a cloak covered in flowers.
- Classical models: Venus’s modest pose, covering herself with her long hair, comes from ancient statues of the Venus Pudica type, and the embracing Winds are based on a Hellenistic gem owned by Lorenzo the Magnificent.
- Gold in the hair: the reflections of light in Venus’s long blond hair were made by applying gold.
- A Medici clue: the orange trees were an emblem of the Medici, because oranges were then called mala medica; the work was very probably commissioned by a member of the family.
- Medium and size: tempera on canvas, 172.5 × 278.5 cm. Canvas was widely used in the 15th century for decorative paintings for noble houses; Botticelli’s Primavera, by contrast, is on wood.
- First recorded: in 1550, when Giorgio Vasari described it in the Medici villa at Castello, near Florence, where it remained until 1815.
Sources: Uffizi Galleries record (Inv. 1890 n. 878) · Uffizi Galleries: Botticelli, Spring (Primavera) · Wikidata Q151047 · Wikidata Q5669
Questions and answers about the painting
What is the meaning of The Birth of Venus?
Botticelli’s painting celebrates Venus as the symbol of love and beauty, according to the Uffizi, and its subject was perhaps suggested by the poet Agnolo Poliziano. Despite the traditional title, it does not show a birth: the goddess, born of the sea spray, is arriving on land on the island of Cyprus, blown there by the winds. The roses carried on the wind and the flower-covered cloak held out to her recall spring, and the orange trees were an emblem of the Medici, the family that very probably commissioned the picture.
Source: Uffizi Galleries record (Inv. 1890 n. 878) · Wikidata Q151047 (main subject: Venus Anadyomene)
Where is Botticelli’s painting, and in which room of the Uffizi?
The Birth of Venus hangs in the Uffizi in Florence, in room A12, which the museum titles “Botticelli, La Venere”; its inventory number is 1890 n. 878. Nothing was written about the painting before 1550, when Giorgio Vasari described it in the Medici villa at Castello, near Florence, and Wikidata records it there until 1815. Botticelli’s Primavera hangs in room A11 of the same museum.
Source: Uffizi Galleries record (location, checked 5 Nov 2026) · Uffizi Galleries: Botticelli, Spring (Primavera) · Wikidata Q151047 (location)
Who are the figures around Venus in the painting?
On the left, the winds Zephyr and, perhaps, Aura fly in each other’s arms and blow the goddess ashore. On the right, a young woman, identified sometimes as one of the Graces and sometimes as the Hora of spring, holds out a cloak covered in flowers. Venus herself stands on a giant scallop shell, covering her nakedness with her long blond hair. The Uffizi notes that the pair of Winds is based on a Hellenistic gem owned by Lorenzo the Magnificent.
Source: Uffizi Galleries record (Inv. 1890 n. 878) · Wikidata Q151047 (depicts)
How big is the canvas, and what is it painted with?
The Birth of Venus measures 172.5 × 278.5 cm (about 5 ft 8 in × 9 ft 2 in) and is painted in tempera on canvas. Unlike Botticelli’s Primavera, painted on wood, it was made on canvas, a support widely used in the 15th century for decorative paintings meant for noble houses. The reflections of light in Venus’s long blond hair were obtained by applying gold.
Source: Uffizi Galleries record (Inv. 1890 n. 878) · Uffizi Galleries: Botticelli, Spring (Primavera) · Wikidata Q151047
How is the painting related to Botticelli’s Primavera?
Both are by Botticelli, both are in the Uffizi, and Giorgio Vasari described the two together in 1550 in the Medici villa at Castello. Primavera (Spring), from about 1480, is painted on poplar wood and shows nine figures from classical mythology in a grove of orange and laurel trees, with Venus, chastely dressed, at the centre. Towards the end of the 15th century it hung in the Florence house of the heirs of Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco de’ Medici. Today it is in room A11.
Source: Uffizi Galleries: Botticelli, Spring (Primavera) · Uffizi Galleries record (Inv. 1890 n. 878)
Is Botticelli’s painting in the public domain?
Yes. Botticelli died in 1510, so his paintings are free of copyright everywhere. A faithful photograph of a public-domain painting adds no new copyright in the United States or the European Union, so you can download this image and use it in personal or commercial projects. Public Domain Images for Commercial Use explains how.
More Artworks by Sandro Botticelli
Virgin and Child
Sandro Botticelli
Madonna and Child and the Young St John the Baptist
Sandro Botticelli
Madonna and Child with six angels and Saint John the Baptist as Child
Sandro Botticelli
Adoration of the Magi
Sandro Botticelli
Virgin and Child with the Young Saint John the Baptist
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Madonna of the Magnificat
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Calumny of Apelles
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Portrait of a young man holding a roundel
Sandro Botticelli
The Trinity with Saint Mary Magdalene and Saint John the Baptist, the Archangel Raphael and Tobias
Sandro Botticelli
Idealized Portrait of a Lady (Portrait of Simonetta Vespucci as Nymph)
Sandro Botticelli
