Botticelli’s Primavera: A Gateway Drug into the World of Pagan Imagery
Description/Abstract/Artist Statement
Sandro Botticelli's 1477-82 Primavera is a tempera on panel painting that depicts a garden encapsulating nine figures representing mythological Roman gods and goddesses and was originally in one of the Medici family's palaces. Scholars primarily focus on the roles and identities of the figures pictured within the painting, the painting's function as an illustration of poetry or as an allusion to the Roman calendar. This paper argues that Sandro Botticelli's Primavera ushered in spring and the acceptance of pagan imagery that was socially acceptable in a time of religious restraint. This thesis explores the contextual understanding of Primavera as an allegory for a woman's role in the Catholic sacrament of matrimony. By examining humanist influences, an understanding of the work's correlation to the Catholic Religion emerges. Botticelli's Primavera allowed the symbolic nature of gods and goddesses of antiquity to become an acceptable means of expression in the Catholic Religion. The opportunities allotted to this artist created the perfect situation to take the popular humanist text and influences of the past and combine them with the Catholic Religion, thus opening Pandora's box.
Faculty Advisor/Mentor
Anne H. Muraoka
College Affiliation
College of Arts & Letters
Presentation Type
Oral Presentation
Disciplines
Ancient, Medieval, Renaissance and Baroque Art and Architecture
Session Title
Art History 1: The Art of Transformation
Location
Zoom
Start Date
3-19-2022 1:00 PM
End Date
3-19-2022 2:00 PM
Botticelli’s Primavera: A Gateway Drug into the World of Pagan Imagery
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Sandro Botticelli's 1477-82 Primavera is a tempera on panel painting that depicts a garden encapsulating nine figures representing mythological Roman gods and goddesses and was originally in one of the Medici family's palaces. Scholars primarily focus on the roles and identities of the figures pictured within the painting, the painting's function as an illustration of poetry or as an allusion to the Roman calendar. This paper argues that Sandro Botticelli's Primavera ushered in spring and the acceptance of pagan imagery that was socially acceptable in a time of religious restraint. This thesis explores the contextual understanding of Primavera as an allegory for a woman's role in the Catholic sacrament of matrimony. By examining humanist influences, an understanding of the work's correlation to the Catholic Religion emerges. Botticelli's Primavera allowed the symbolic nature of gods and goddesses of antiquity to become an acceptable means of expression in the Catholic Religion. The opportunities allotted to this artist created the perfect situation to take the popular humanist text and influences of the past and combine them with the Catholic Religion, thus opening Pandora's box.