Botticelli, Primavera (Spring), ca. 1482
Framed by a grove of orange trees, Venus, goddess of love, is flanked on her right by Flora, goddess of flowers and fertility, and on her left by the Three Graces, goddesses of banquets, dance, and social occasions. Above, Venus’s son Cupid, the god of love, shoots darts of desire, while at the far right the wind god Zephyrus chases the nymph Chloris. The entire scene rests on classical mythology, though some art historians claim that Venus is an allegory for the Virgin Mary. Botticelli captured the ideal of female beauty in the Renaissance: slender, with pale skin, a high forehead, red-blond hair, and sloping shoulders. (Digital image © The Museum of Modern Art/Licensed by Scala/Art Resource, NY)