With its striking depiction of the classical goddess of love and fertility at its centre, Sandro Botticelli’s The Birth of Venus (c1485) is one of the most famous and influential Renaissance artworks. And, as the UK curator, gallerist and video essayist James Payne details in this instalment from his series Great Art Explained, Botticelli’s painting is more than just masterful. Rather, with its preternatural style, depiction of female nudity and non-Christian imagery, it represented a turning point in the history of Western art. Detailing the social forces that made the painting possible, as well as Botticelli’s techniques and motifs, Payne explores how the revolutionary work melded humanist philosophy with contemporary Christianity.
Video by Great Art Explained
video
Mathematics
Spiral into the ‘golden ratio’ – and separate the myths from the maths
4 minutes
video
Art
A young Rockefeller collects art on a fateful journey to New Guinea
7 minutes
video
Architecture
A lush tour of Fallingwater – the Frank Lloyd Wright design that changed architecture
14 minutes
video
Art
Defying classification, fantastical artworks reframe the racism of Carl Linnaeus
8 minutes
video
Film and visual culture
Space and time expand, contract and combust in this propulsive animation
5 minutes
video
Art
When East met West in the images of an overlooked, original photographer
9 minutes
video
Earth science and climate
Images carved into film form a haunting elegy for a disappearing slice of Earth
3 minutes
video
Nature and landscape
California’s landscapes provide endless inspiration for a woodcut printmaker
10 minutes
video
Love and friendship
Never marry a man you love too much, and other views on romance in Sierra Leone
5 minutes