Sandro Botticelli: Venus and Mars in Renaissance Florence | National Gallery

“Two paintings which are SADLY not in the national gallery but in Florence”. PARTHENON FRIEZES FEELINGS.

A very riveting and in-depth talk. One of the best so far, she's so articulate and her narration/idea glides smoothly.

A few years ago a friend of mine and myself visited an art exhibition here in Potsdam. The very first room we entered was dedicated to the Vespucci family - you could sit down in the middle of the darkened room and look up at the illuminated walls which looked like the walls of the Vespucci estate. The audio guide told us that the coat of arms of that family depicted wasps (so many wasps) and that many of the artwoks that were painted for them, contained wasps in some way.... hidden in a corner or sometimes more obvious to underscore the power of the family. So we spent the time of our visit with loking at lots of tiny details to find even more "Vespucci art". :)

What a fantastic communicator Caroline Campbell is. So clear and with such perfect pace!

Love seeing this online, there’s not many places/institutions that provide public access to talks like this. Very appreciative for it. I always hoped to have access to these types of resources when I started exploring YouTube but it’s sad it took COVID for many places to realize their reach and ppl’s Interest in these types of lectures and educational content that they can provide and impact they can make… which is usually high up in their mission statement.

Thank you for making talks like these available to the public. I wish more museums would present content by experts in the field. It takes immense study on the subject to deliver a clear, succinct talk. And it’s a joy to listen to an articulate presenter.

I can not believe how fast this 27 minutes went. This was SO interesting to watch!

Excellent lecture thanks to Ms Campbell. May I offer a couple of extra pointers that might shed more light on this classic painting. The smaller figures are Satyrs and Satryesses half-men, half-goat as we see from their hooves, wool and horns. Satyrs are renown lovers of beautiful women, song, wine and love to play their pipes, one of which stands upright on the end of Mars' finger. Satyrs are also the followers of Bacchus the god of wine and the discoverer of honey in a hollow tree, could these be bees in the hollow tree. Mars certainly has enjoyed himself here and has fully partaken his fill of the wine that still smothers his overly red lips if we compare them to the lips of Venus. I'm believe in this scene Botticelli has Mars drunk as the Satyrs steal his weapons and armour and yet interestingly Venus raises no alarm. Love will conquer all?

I've always thought of this painting as allegorical -- with Love conquering (and disarming) War.

accept a sincere "Bravo", to the lovely presenter and speaker for such marvelous explaining of the oil and poplar panel that beholds indeed the very humorous depiction of Venus and Mars, for those with the eyes to see, and, don't forget the ethical message of this Masterpiece which is "Love Conquers War".

Super! I was listening the lecture in one breath. I would have never noticed so many detailes on the painting without Caroline Campbell. I remember travelling around Florence and there was a stone house with the name Vespucci over the door in a tiny village. Wasps were graved on the wall.

Wonderfully clear though worth adding: this painting is very much about sex! The jokey post-coital sleepiness of Mars, replete with "limp finger"; the satyr pinching the squirting cucumber...Also about the consequences of illicit sex. These two are sited outside of Florence (we see the Arno in the distance with silhouette of Florence) which thought of itself as the Garden of Eden, hence they are also the sinners Adam and Eve. (Note the pose of Mars and the similarity to a dead Christ? A reminder of how Christ died for our sins). And as other commentators have noted, they likely also represent Giuliano de Medici (known for his prowess in jousting) and his platonic (?) love Simonetta Vespucci. Hence, like all the best Renaissance works, it functions on several levels simultaneously and has a moral message.

I have always thought it referred to the platonic and courtly affair of Giuliano di Medici and Simometta Vespucci.

What is incredible is not only have I always loved Botticelli but this speaker has made the critical analysis so fascinating that I get to love him all over again

Caroline was brilliant in this talk. Congratulations!

Informative and brilliantly presented! Thank you!

A few additional comments: I find it odd to describe the little boys simply as “putti” or “Cupids”, since they are fauns, followers not of Venus but of Pan and Bacchus, with horns and goats’ hairy hindquarters. Admittedly Botticelli, along with other painters, played with the notions of pagan Cupids and of Christian angels, both of which are winged - a putto is in a way a combination of the two. These boys however are more easily assimilated, given their physical characteristics, to devils - of course this is presented in a humorous way. Perhaps we can say that Botticelli is combining Cupid, angel, faun and devil together, to produce a mischievous but lovable child. Venus and Mars represent Love and War, or Strife, the two principles which, in the views of ancient Greek speculative “scientists” like Empedocles, explain the coming to be of the physical universe. Modern physicists insist on the fundamental importance of attractive and repulsive forces - at a high level of generality we can see that there is a connection between ancient and modern here. I have always thought that one (of many) interpretations of the painting is that it represents the triumph of Love over Strife. The connection of the Vespucci with wasps, “vespe”, was recognised by the family itself - wasps are pictured in the coat of arms. Great talk - I’m just adding a few things that might have been mentioned if the speaker had a whole hour!

"Spalliera" is also the part of the bed, also called "Testiera", which separates the bed from the wall. You can "sit" in your bed leaning on the Spalliera. A painting which is called a "spalliera" is presumably a painting to be hung behind the bed, over the spalliera. The shape is rectangular if you imagine a double bed. So this is basically a painting to be hung over the marital bed, which is of no surprise considering how "knackered" Mars is, and how deeply he's sleeping.

Thank you National Gallery 🎨🌿❤

Thank you, Mrs. Caroline! Thank you for your excellent presentation!