The portrayal of love : Botticelli's Primavera and humanist culture at the time of Lorenzo the Magnificent

Widely acknowledged as a prime manifestation of Florentine humanist culture under Lorenzo de'Medici, Botticelli's Primavera cannot be fully interpreted without considering the poetics that expressed the Laurentian cultural program and, in turn, the Renaissance itself. In this analysis Charles Dempsey examines the poetry written by Lorenzo and his literary clients in order to give definition to the cultural context in which the Primavera was created. A celebration of Love, the painting is shown to incorporate both public and private imaginative realms while embracing the ideal and the actual experiences of the present. The Primavera , depicting Venus as the spirit of Love and springtime, is simultaneously old-fashioned and modern, rooted in International-Style vernacular conventions and evincing a nascent classical vocabulary. After describing the profoundly humanist classical foundation of the invention of the Primavera , Dempsey identifies its genre with rustic song, then relates the painting to the conventions of vernacular love poetry. A close reading of the painting in relation to works by Lorenzo, Politian, Pulci, and other poets working to elevate vernacular expression by infusing native Tuscan with Latin forms suggests how the idea of Love portrayed by Botticelli in the form of Venus incorporates not only the ancient springtime renovatio mundi but also the actual cultural renovation--the Renaissance--imagined and sponsored by Lorenzo the Magnificent. "Widely acknowledged as a prime manifestation of Florentine humanist culture under Lorenzo de' Medici, Botticelli's Primavera cannot be fully interpreted without considering the poetics that expressed the Laurentian cultural program and, in turn, the Renaissance itself. In this analysis Charles Dempsey examines the poetry written by Lorenzo and his literary clients in order to give definition to the cultural context in which the Primavera was created. A celebration of Love, the painting is shown to incorporate both public and private imaginative realms while embracing the ideal and the actual experiences of the present. The Primavera, depicting Venus as the spirit of Love and springtime, is simultaneously old-fashioned and modern, rooted in International-Style vernacular conventions and evincing a nascent classical vocabulary. After describing the profoundly humanist classical foundation to the invention of the Primavera, Dempsey identifies its genre with rustic song, then relates the painting to the conventions of vernacular love poetry. A close reading of the painting in relation to works by Lorenzo, Politian, Pulci, and other poets working to elevate vernacular expression by infusing native Tuscan with Latin forms suggests how the idea of Love portrayed by Botticelli in the figure of Venus incorporates not only the ancient springtime renovatio mundi but also the actual cultural renovation-- the Renaissance-- imagined and sponsored by Lorenzo the Magnificent"--Publisher's description Recognized as a prime representation of Florentine humanist culture under Lorenzo de'Medici, Botticelli's "Primavera" cannot be fully interpreted without considering the Laurentian poetics that defined the Renaissance in Florence. In his analysis, Charles Dempsey, Professor of Art History at Johns Hopkins, examines the poetry of Lorenzo and his literary clients in order to give definition to the cultural context in which the "Primavera" was created. 16 color plates. 29 b&w. An interpretation of Botticelli's painting which relates it closely to works of poetry by Lorenzo, Politian and Pulci. The author suggests how the idea of love as portrayed by Botticelli incorporates the actual cultural renovation imagined and sponsored by Lorenzo the Magnificent.