Where is Botticelli’s Venus: here’s what you need to know

The Ministry of Tourism launched a campaign for the beauty of Italy and chose an image of Botticelli’s Venus as its “influencer”. If you want to see the real Botticelli’s Venus, set out with Italo for a weekend in Florence and find out what to see in the Tuscan capital. During your stay in the cradle of Italian art, check out our suggestions about the city’s most famous spots panoramic views.

Here’s more about Botticelli’s Venus and where to admire the work:

1. Where is The Birth of Venus located?
2. Who painted the Birth of Venus?
3. Who was Botticelli’s Venus?
4. What does Botticelli’s Venus represent?
5. How many Venuses by Botticelli are there in the world?
6. Travel to Florence with Italo

1. Where is The Birth of Venus located?

Botticelli’s Venus can be found at the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, less than a 15-minute walk from the main station of Santa Maria Novella.

The Birth of Venus has been in the Uffizi since 1815, though before that it was located at Villa di Castello, the country residence of the Medici family. Subsequently the painting was transferred to Palazzo Pitti, to later be permanently housed in the Uffizi.

The Uffizi Gallery, a museum commissioned and built by Francesco I de’ Medici in 1581, is located in the beautiful palace built between 1560 and 1580 following a design by Giorgio Vasari. It is one of the most famous museums in the world because inside you can admire collections of ancient sculptures and paintings from the Middle Ages to the modern age. There are collections of paintings from the fourteenth century and the Renaissance. You can find works by Giotto, Simone Martini, Piero della Francesca, Beato Angelico, Filippo Lippi, Botticelli, Mantegna, Correggio, Leonardo, Raphael, Michelangelo, Caravaggio and masterpieces of German, Dutch and Flemish painters.

Don’t miss the collection of ancient statues and busts from the de’ Medici family that line the corridors of the Gallery and include ancient Roman sculptures as well as copies of Greek originals.

The Uffizi Gallery is open Tuesday through Sunday, from 8:15 to 18:30. The cost of the ticket is €25, for more information on costs, tickets, and concessions, visit the uffizi.it website.

2. Who painted the Birth of Venus?

The work of art, the Birth of Venus was painted by Sandro Botticelli. It took two years, from 1483 to 1485, to complete. The painting was commissioned by Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco de’ Medici, cousin of Lorenzo the Magnificent, who also commissioned La Primavera from Botticelli in 1482.

Spring by Sandro Botticelli

The Birth of Venus, unlike Spring painted on a poplar panel, was painted on canvas, a technique little practiced in Florence in those years. Botticelli had learnt the technique while staying outside Tuscany.

The work has a symmetrical arrangement of the figures, in the center Venus on a shell, on the left the two winds Zephyr and Aura and on the right the Hour of Spring.

In the figure of Venus, static coexistence is displayed with the upright posture and movement is displayed by the windblown hair.

3. Who was Botticelli’s Venus?

The model portrayed by Sandro Botticelli as Venus was Simonetta Cattaneo Vespucci, a beautiful noblewoman originally from Genoa with golden hair, to whom Botticelli was very attached to.

The young woman became known to the Medici family and many of them fell in love with her, from Giuliano, the brother of Lorenzo the Magnificent, to Sandro Botticelli. The model who was represented in many other paintings, unfortunately died very young, almost ten years before the creation of Botticelli’s The Birth of Venus and Spring. The artist was so in love with Simonetta that even after her untimely death her beauty was imprinted in the painter’s mind, and he drew her from memory to honor her. For this reason, Botticelli’s Venus is a moving symbol of beauty and love.

4. What does Botticelli’s Venus represent?

The Birth of Venus, Sandro Botticelli

The Birth of Venus by Botticelli, together with La Primavera, is one of the most important profane allegories of the Renaissance in Florence of Lorenzo the Magnificent and expresses the concept of love according to Neoplatonic philosophy.

Botticelli’s Venus represents an ideal of beauty and perfection, which through the representation of the body and the proportion of each element becomes the best example of the harmony of Creation.

Botticelli represents the goddess Venus as demure, covering her breasts and pubis with her hands with her blond hair flowing freely, while the two winds Aura and Zefiro in human form fly intertwined, pushing her to the shore with their breath where there is a girl with a cloak waiting to cover her.

In this painting you can admire, in addition to the splendid Venus in the shell, the cornflowers that decorate the dress of the girl who awaits Venus on the beach, the red cloak that she offers to the goddess decorated with primroses and sprigs of myrtle, the rain of roses that falls from the sky, the sea waves and the blue anemone on the beach near the feet of the waiting girl, Spring Time. The Hours, daughters of Zeus and Temi, in the mythological tradition are the goddesses who regulate the change of seasons.

5. How many Venuses by Botticelli are there in the world?

There is not just one, but three other Botticelli’s Venus made by the artist in collaboration with his workshop. The first can be found in Turin, the second is kept in the Gamäldegalerie in Berlin and the third belongs to a private Swiss collection.

6. Travel to Florence with Italo

It’s so easy with Italo to spend a family weekend in Florence, visit the Uffizi and admire the splendid Venus by Botticelli. Italo has daily, high speed trains in route to the Florence Santa Maria Novella station from all over Italy: check out all the timetables and ticket prices on our site and takes advantage of the special offers dedicated to families.

Remember to always log in to your account before purchasing to take advantage of the Italo Più offers and rates for members only. If you haven’t already done so, you can register for free for the Italo Più Loyalty Program and immediately get a 5% discount on your first trip and accumulate points on consecutive trips to earn free reward tickets.