The Birth of Venus

The Birth of Venus
Alexandra Smith
In Sandros Boticelli’s, The Birth of Venus, there were several different types of lines noticeable in the painting. There are actual lines to illustrate simple birds, and curved lines showing the edges of the shell. A lot of the lines were implied by the different colors next to each other. The edge of the trees and the leaves are shown by dark browns and greens against the blue sky. The hard lines of the edge, and soft lines in the folds of the fabric held by the woman who represents Spring in the picture, are illustrated by the shading of colors and contrast between the foreground and background. Lines in this photo also illustrate motion. The straight white soft line coming from the man, is suggesting the movement of air, while Venus’ curved lines of her hair reinforce this movement of what the white line implied. In this painting the majority of shapes are organic. All of the natural elements of the painting are organic. Everything from the shapes of the human figures, to the land, tree, flowers, and shell Venus is standing on. The geometrical circle shape is predominate with the dots on the center of the flowers, parts of the plants on the cloths, and other smaller detailed aspects. Since The Birth of Venus is a two dimensional painting the illusion of depth is implied. The winged couple, Venus, the shell, and the woman representing Spring all overlap the water, sky, and land. The land and trees in the background are diminished in size showing a great depth. All of the feet of the figures are vertically placed the bottom of the picture and raise up to appear closer. The atmostpheric prospective was shown by the changing in blue colors of the horizon line in the background. Also, by the light blue and soft white creates the illusion of clouds in the distant. Motion is implied in this painting. The movement of the couple flying is shown by the placement of the feet, the illustration of the wings, and the