Botticelli And His Portrayal Of Women Essays - Spring, Nude Art

Botticelli And His Portrayal Of Women Essays - Spring, Nude Art Botticelli And His Portrayal Of Women Botticelli is one of the most famous artists during the Italian Renaissance. He was very well know for the portrayal of the female figure and his ability to incorporate femininity as a symbol of life itself and/or nature illustrated by the changes of seasons. Botticelli most famous figure was that of Venus, the goddess of love. She was incorporated into two of his most famous works, The Birth of Venus and Primavera. Most of Botticellis women had that typical hourglass figure to them . During the time period in which these works were created, women with the physical characteristics of Venus were considered to be the ideal feminine figure. These women were considered to be ideal because during this era, flesh was a symbol of health, wealth, and stability (Sandro , 1). Women of this built were obviously healthy because this showed that they ate well and were thus financially secure. Thin women on the other hand were viewed as being poor and thus underfed and unhealthy due to lack of funds and hard labor. Also, men viewed Venus (especially her wide hips) to be the perfect figure, because they saw that type of figure to be designed especially for the purposes of child bearing (Turner 151). Venus, the goddess of love, is illustrated in Sandro Botticellis The Birth of Venus, as the ultimate glorification of the female figure, because this painting depicts the beginning of all beginnings, which is the birth of the goddess of love herself. It depicts this image because she is drawn as a pure person, not knowing much about what is happening. Botticelli does not show any signs of disrespect towards women. In fact in this painting, even though the goddess is Rizzo 2 nude, he depicts her in such a fashion that shows she has self-confidence and lack of embarrassment. The arm that covers her breasts and the log hair covering the genitals is how she is preventing herself from being exposed and essentially how he maintains her modesty (Dempsey, 35). Botticelli also delineates the love goddess to be sexy. He creates this illusion by giving her the long, wavy, golden hair. In general, long hair is considered to be sexy. Botticelli adds the wind factor, which in turn makes Venus more attracting because it leaves to the mind the imagination of her becoming nude if she did not hold the hair in the position that he placed it. The slight coverage of the breasts and the genitals is what makes Venus to be a very sexy and attractive woman. Revealing just a slight bit of the private areas is very attracting. It leaves to the imagination the rest of the picture. Botticelli represents the beauty of his women in another of his famous works. In Primavera, he depicts the birth of a new beginning. Back in that time period, spring meant new life. Flowers bloomed and people survived harsh winters. Botticelli is brilliant in the way he depicts this rebirth. The chronology of Primavera runs right to left, contrary to the pictorial sequence in the standard painting. He depicts the painting in this order because according to the Roman calendar, spring unfolded from right to left (Turner, 152). The painting begins with Chloris. Chloris is supposedly the reason for the appearance of Flora, the goddess of flowers. Chloris was raped by Zephyr, the man all the way to the right of the painting (Dempsey, 44). The flowers Rizzo 3 that come out of her mouth, onto Floras dress (whom Chloris was transformed into after the rape), symbolize the birth of a new beginning. This is said to be the part where the new beginning comes about. The flowers from Flora then begin to emerge from the bottom of Venuss feet. Venus in this painting is once again meant to be the beginning of the beginning of a new life. Spring is the known to be the beginning of new life because that meant that one survived the harsh winters. In this painting, Venus symbolizes the survival of the past season. The three goddesses to the left of Venus symbolize the blooming of the upcoming season (Dempsey, 62). Even though the artist uses these women as a

No More Mistakes With This Grammar Cheat Sheet

No More Mistakes With This Grammar Cheat Sheet The cold, hard truth is that the autocorrect feature on your phone and the spelling and grammar checks in your word processing software arent enough to guarantee error-free writing. And text speak never cuts it in academic and professional settings or in serious personal circumstances. Even if your class or major is unrelated to English, strong writing skills are crucial in any endeavor or career. Use this grammar cheat sheet to check yourself, and make a note of any weak spots you have or things you tend to forget or mix up. Keep a physical or digital sticky note on your computer, and glance at it any time you sit down to write. Homophones Its, Its The bird is flapping its wings. (correct; possession) Its a beautiful day to watch birds. (correct; contraction of it + is) Their, There, Theyre Their party was a bit loud. (correct; possession) Im glad I wasnt there. (correct; adverb) Theyre going to get in trouble one of these days. (correct; contraction of they + are) Then, Than First, put on your socks; then, put on your shoes. (correct; sense of time/order) You are taller than I realized. (correct; comparison) Yore, Your, Youre The movie special effects of yore used no CGI. (correct; time in the past) Your taste in movies is a bit odd. (correct; possession) Youre really into those black-and-white films. (correct; contraction of you + are) Word Usage Bring, Take Please bring me my phone. (correct; from another location to your current location) I always take my phone to class. (correct; from your current location to another location) Everyday, Every Day My workouts are an everyday thing. (correct; adjective only) I work out every day. (correct; adverb phrase) I, Me, Myself I am the queen. (correct; subject) Bill and I are friends. (correct; compound subject) Give me my crown. (correct; object) The fight for the throne is between Bill and me. (correct; compound object) I call myself Queen of the Universe. (correct; reflexive verb) It was just him and myself. (incorrect) It was just him and me. (correct) Lay, Lie Lay your head on the pillow and rest. (correct; transitive verb) Lie here and rest. (correct; intransitive verb) Loose, Lose I must have lost weight, because my pants are loose. (correct; adjective) I would like to lose a bit more weight. (correct; verb) Nor, Or He is neither a man nor a child. (correct; negative) That is either a small rat or a large mouse. (correct; positive) That, Which I read the book that you recommended. (correct; specifies one book of many) I read the book, which happened to be very expensive. (correct; refers specifically to a certain book) Weather, Whether Have you checked the weather report today? (correct) I dont know whether I should take an umbrella or not. (correct) Who, Whom Who are you? (correct) Do you know who he is? (correct) Who are you talking to? (incorrect but very common) Whom are you talking to? (correct) Punctuation Apostrophe () shes (correct; contraction of she + is) wouldnt (correct; contraction of would + not) Bobs book (correct; the book of Bob) the Olsens home (correct; the home of the Olsens) the members choice (correct; the choice of a certain member) the members choice (correct; the choice of more than one member) I visited the Olsens. (incorrect; apostrophe not used in plurals) I visited the Olsens. (correct) Colon (:) My mother told me to buy milk, eggs, and bread. (correct; language flows and does not need the colon) My mother told me to buy just the essentials: milk, eggs, and bread. (correct; stop before list requires the colon) I told her one thing: I need money. (correct; phrase or clause after colon explains phrase or clause before colon) Comma (,) Im with him, hes with her. (incorrect; comma splice between two complete sentences) Im with him, and hes with her. (correct; conjunction added) Im with him; hes with her. (correct; alternative if you do not add a conjunction; see Semicolon) Hyphen (-) I hate three eyed monsters. (incorrect depending on intended meaning; sounds like I hate eyed monsters and there are three of them) I hate three-eyed monsters. (correct; I hate monsters with three eyes) Remembering these grammar rules takes a bit of self-discipline. (correct) Semicolon (;) Lets go to the movies, its not too late. (incorrect; comma splice) Lets go to the movies; its not too late. (correct; semicolon separates two sentences) Of course, this cheat sheet cant cover everything you need to know about English. Massive style guides are published for professional copywriter and editors. But hopefully, this helpful article will steer you in the right direction.