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

Caroline Campbell, Director of Collections and Research, discusses Italian Renaissance artist Sandro Botticelli's painting 'Venus and Mars', an intriguing mythological scene depicting Venus, the goddess of Love, and Mars, the god of War. She looks at some possible classical sources for this work of art, and explores the reasons why it might have been painted for Botticelli's patron in Florence.
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The National Gallery houses the national collection of paintings in the Western European tradition from the 13th to the 19th centuries. The museum is free of charge and open 361 days per year, daily between 10.00 am - 6.00 pm and on Fridays between 10.00 am - 9.00 pm.
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[@ernestol.vacarezza5481]

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

[@ledhicks]

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

[@MelzoA.]

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

[@nationalgallery]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@erika7674]

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

[@mesmabelsare]

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.

[@McRambleOn]

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 KZbin 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.

[@KaworuNagisa]

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". :)

[@ja2pin]

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

[@uffa00001]

"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.

[@videotechnique]

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?

[@andrenewcomb3708]

I think also there is the play of folly: If those boys want to fight, you better let them. Mars sleeps because those boys are in his ear. Mars sleeps because of Oedipal/maternal instinct engendered in his upbringing. Mars sleeps because of the 1/2 man -- 1/2 beast possession of trysts of youth. Her hair is similar to their lower half . . . sheltering her from Mars' awakening. It is their intention to toy with him to the end of time. Who's The man?!

[@veleronHL]

Why did she call them cupids?

[@matheya]

@@veleronHL I was thinking the same - cupids with horns ?

[@HeLLBenDr]

This is another beautiful way of looking at the painting. Amazing.

[@Ronniecoltrane]

videotechnique these are definitely not bees as they are elongated and yellow and black bees and rounder and less vibrant in colour

[@hotelalphabet]

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.

[@youcancallmeana]

Thanks for adding those insights. Do you know why she keeps calling the fauns (or satyrs) cupids? In my limited understanding they are not interchangeable creatures.

[@djedUVprojector]

Your missing Venus comical expression of post coital disappointment... Sex wasn't invented in 1968...

[@user-bv9mq9yk8k]

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.

[@johnadrianblack]

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!

[@russellb5573]

Yes. I found the description of the "little boys/ putti" rather odd and inaccurate. "They're satyrs" came into my head immediately

[@architectonic99]

Thanks, excellent talk and your additions are very helpful. What a world this painting opens up!

[@coscinaippogrifo]

Wow, you should have your own talk at the National Gallery too!

[@eidolon1809]

You beat me to it! I find it hard to understand how the lecturer would make such a basic mistake of confusing putti and fauns. She said more than once so it wasn't a slip of the tongue.

[@jessiemeiers2331]

In the art history world, we use the term Putti. It’s a more general description that can reference both greek and roman influences

[@patricia2180]

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".

[@nicolepettit5120]

Fyi for a woman you would say "Brava!"

[@roniquebreauxjordan1302]

Thank you National Gallery 🎨🌿❤

[@andrzejmaranda3699]

The National Gallery: this video is SOOO INTERESTING!

[@xaviermg271]

Caroline was brilliant in this talk. Congratulations!

[@caroledrury1411]

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

[@tviemc]

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

[@piyalirb1247]

Informative and brilliantly presented! Thank you!

[@Bazzo61]

Amazing talk and presentation. So articulate. A pleasure to listen to.

[@docmccoy95]

That was wonderful, thanks.

[@alandreau1446]

I think Mars has failed to satisfy his lover and reposes in a post-coital coma - so worn out he poses a threat to no-one...Love Conquers War

[@scoon2117]

I found Boticelli thru his illustrations of Dantes inferno. Really cool

[@m.i.miller8008]

Just love her videos. She is such a pleasure to watch.

[@alsaulso1332]

love it!!! Mrs. Campbell did a great job!!

[@ballyantonia]

This presenter is stunningly brilliant.

[@MoammedSceab86]

Beautiful!

[@mardybum8712]

Love this videos!

[@michaelwilder5614]

And I agree with Helena Salazar's comments that the Primavera & the Birth of Venus are actually utterly fitting at the Uffizi. Rightly or wrongly, Botticelli has come to symbolize Italian Renaissance at its most springlike and most intoxicating - the Uffizi had its surroundings feels more proper. Besides, as Ms. Campbell states in this lecture, Botticelli himself grew up, learnt his craft, lived and died in Firenze. The Uffizi Gallery in the very intellectual, culture heart of Firenze feels just right.

[@OnceUponACalm]

I love the traditional art. Thank you to share :) I am your fan

[@Alicia82491]

They are Simonetta Vespucci and Giuliano de Medici.

[@alalalabolalababaxx3555]

Alicia Barrientos yes, both two GORGEOUS humans

[@MariannaK94]

Thank you for sharing. Спасибо.

[@rucksmiths8454]

Thank you for your kind and respectful use of the English language.

[@winniegib31]

The presentation was great. It help clarify a few things I was uncertain about.

[@guilhermesilveira5254]

Italy is a art museum

[@MarieArt-pv8cm]

WOW I LOVE THIS VIDEO!! Thank you now I love this painting hehehee...

[@MrDelvoye]

brilliant presentation....... this painting inspired the creation of Adam

[@adrianoktavianbara3159]

It would be nice to look at the painting from time to time. Perfect presentation, very professional.

[@robcoghan5204]

Caroline you sparkle, Brava!

[@rbosque]

Very colorful & bright painting, very few shadows. Nice composition.

[@victoriamilonas1942]

I agree that Mars is post-coital man but not that Venus is contemplating the gravity of her sin. Ah patriarchy! She is merely wondering if the game is worth the candle. I'd forgotten that Vulcan was her husband.

[@marsbolt3424]

Perhaps, but looks like he got off, probably came too quickly and she's left without her orgasm. She's bored with him.

[@user-wy6gj6if4x]

It's reminds me the sculpture 'Pietà', because Venus almost same physical as Mars. I like Botticelli's insight about characters in the picture. Thank you for your comment.

[@skarpbrown]

Those are satyrs, not "naughty little boys" or putti. I appreciate these lectures being made available on KZbin.

[@cuchareableroman1529]

as a chief curator of a world class museum specialized in 1500 and before paintings, im pretty sure she knows.

[@eidolon1809]

@@cuchareableroman1529 You'd think she would know! That's why it's so baffling that she would make such a basic mistake.

[@hughwilliamson2190]

Excellent and very informative - more like this please!

[@michaelwilder5614]

In Frank Spotnitz's freshly released Medici Season 2, it reiterates in multiple episodes that Venus is Simonetta Vespucci and Mars is Giuliano Medici, and that Botticelli & Guiliano became estranged over their shared obsession with Simonetta. But of course, all these could just be fiction as in real life, this painting was never burned (saw it intact with my own eyes in the NG London multiple times in the past) and that Simonetta did not die in some underground dungeon.

[@uffa00001]

Everything in the Medici series is pure BS.

[@zarathustra8789]

Excellent video, please do more of these! PS: That lady in profile by Alessio Baldovinetti is charming, a very suitable side companion.

[@nationalgallery]

Hi Pedro, you can find out about the other talks that will be published on KZbin in the coming weeks here: bit.ly/2mYB3o4

[@marklilly9161]

As certain comments already entered here show, CC is cavalier with her facts. Also, in this video, she completely omits the MAIN thrust of the picture, which is a sumptuous rendition of sexuality. As another here put it: "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.... " She must also know, unless her life experience is extremely limited, that sleeping with your mouth open has nothing to do necessarily with snoring!

[@user-gv1zi2vn1k]

Content is great. I know lighting in a museum is difficult, but it would have been helpful if the video camera had attempted to white balance before recording. Thanks for the content, keep recording!

[@ea.apostol]

👏👏👏

[@TamsinJones]

I enjoyed this talk a lot, thank you for sharing it. Might I offer that the arms of the Vespucci family prominently show wasps? Surely, this strengthens the argument the presence of wasps in the picture indicates that Botticelli made the painting for the Vespucci.

[@joecarr2224]

Good lecture. Ms. Campbell requires a podium.

[@marcelyeoh8900]

I would have loved to see more of the painting rather than at the scene of the lecture. It seems the painting is there to illustrate the lecture rather than the other way around.

[@anuradhainamdar8967]

Mars is really show in a hilarious expression on the face.

[@birbiebirdie]

If I came to the National Gallery for a day to look at the painting in person for an art history thesis, would there be anyone available to speak to? Or some documentation about ductus, restoration etc. accessible?

[@nationalgallery]

Hi Ardie, you can find out more information about the painting here: www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/sandro-botticelli-venus-and-mars. There is also a research feature on the painting here: www.nationalgallery.org.uk/research/being-botticelli.

[@patrickryan353]

If we go to the Uffizi museum and enter the room where the Botticelli’s are juxtaposed ; the most striking thing is that the models in all of the paintings are the same people like looking at a VOGUE fashion shoot by let’s say Stephen Meisel ? ..... the next thing we notice is that Botticelli must have been beyond every day standards and living a very dreamy creative hedonistic existence . In the context of this video ; it becomes an academic trophy . I always wonder if modern day historians tend to over contextualize and analyze. It’s a stunningly beautiful rendering and Thank You for the insight ..... it enriches my perspective of Botticelli

[@janegarner6739]

Though I wouldn't equate Botticelli's figures with models in 'Vogue', his female figures in particular certainly look as if drawn from the same model. I've always assumed that Botticelli was painting his idealized vision of female beauty rather than working from the same model, but I've never studied the subject & am just guessing. As his early through late female figures look as if they were drawn from the same model, maybe he drew the early ones from a particular live model & later continued to draw her as an idealized memory, if his female figures were not an idealized vision to start with. The faces of the Madonna in his later work are almost identical to the faces of Venus & others in his earlier mythological works.

[@coscinaippogrifo]

I think also classical Greek art tend to portray all the gods in an idealised way, with very similar features -and maybe he was replicating this, like representing ideals rather than anybody in particular.

[@USERNAMEfieldempty]

Mars is in a deep deep sleep of simple masculine post-coital satisfaction, while Venus is disappointed, awake and troubled about the consequences of her infidelity.

[@amasion2882]

USERNAMEfieldempty : Venus frequently seduced Mars to prevent (or end) long, drawn-out wars.

[@marsbolt3424]

Or her disappointment in Mars' inability to get her off. Wham-bam thank you Ma'am.

[@KevinDixon]

It happens

[@lenawarelius4195]

👏👏👏😍🌼🌻🌺🌹

[@bloxygigi7736]

the show medici really shows a new perspective to the relationship between vespucci and de medici

[@OrontesRM]

the US TV series? It is heavily fictionalised...

[@camillarossi3554]

Why did she say ‘it is sadly in the uffizi’? Thats where venus and mars should be too

[@andrenewcomb3708]

"She told me to walk this way." Busy girl, that Venus.

[@ilksenteksoy4008]

Sevgi sevgidir....!!!! 🇹🇷😍🤗

[@exessex3522]

12:05 "We the viewer know what's going to happen next. [...] But Botticelli very cleverly doesn't actually show that to us." To do so he would've had to have painted another picture and that might've been the very first comic strip.

[@valzerna]

what makes Vasari "infamous" to some people?

[@zarathustra8789]

Perhaps his anecdotes regarding some of the artists present in his Vite? Though amusing, many of them have been regarded as lacking any factual evidence. Also, his confusion and wrong claims on the authorship of many paintings.

[@ilksenteksoy4008]

🇹🇷😍🤗💖💖💖💖 ....inanılmaz...!!!

[@TheArtGuideclub]

Sandro Botticelli 1445 - May 17, 1510 on a day like today Botticelli Dies😢

[@cheryldodd-marko9787]

🕊🇺🇸💕

[@matheya]

Cupids with horns - are we sure ??

[@alandreau1446]

Not Cupid’s not putti baby satyrs

[@OrontesRM]

God, all the people in the comments taking an American tv series for a documentary... Guys, you should know by now that Americans have a penchant for revisionism of Italian history. And, possibly, not just Italian.

[@homerbosserman8484]

Let’s see the paining not the narrator we can hear her even if we’re looking at the painting:who wants to see her for 15 minutes .

[@cherijoe]

Sorry, there is no Cupid at all. Not him.

[@binghamguevara6814]

I think this lady pre-planned to talk with arms folded for two and a half minutes.

[@binghamguevara6814]

@Marry Christmas. Thanks for teaching me a new word. Have a great day.

[@francescobenati8203]

@Marry Christmas as does the painting though (come from a "dago" culture as you so refinedly put it). You civilized anglosaxons were very good at stealing, on the other hand.

[@RyanSmith-wo2pi]

90 % conversion

[@rogerbanana5670]

Aren't they Satyrs?

[@joeymiyazaki4570]

Duh this is just called just a natural prank. Venus is looking at whoever she is to wait for the reaction of the other person in on it.

[@michaelbyrd7883]

Here's the top 5 painters from each century. Painter's only 1. Caravaggio 2. Rembrandt 3. David 4. Van Gogh 5. Klimt

[@carebodai1440]

Why is she calling the faun puttis? when they clearly have goat legs and horns. perhaps they're putti fauns??

[@ElinT13]

To me, Venus looks terribly annoyed ... ;-)

[@RyanSmith-wo2pi]

.

[@kikidee3204]

I don't think anything in this painting needs explaining at all the painting says it all she obv has worn her lover out and is still awaiting more the woman is engaged very much in the reality of her moment whilst the man is intoxicated in his dreams lol things don't change much between a man and a woman obv drawn b4 the introduction of viagra

[@alecblunden8615]

Plotinus was anything but Christian - and his mix of Platonism and mysticism was known simply as Platonism until the 19th century.

[@johnirby4791]

At least 2 Roman emperors were suspected killed by mushrooms, I think this represents that

[@johnirby4791]

They have elves ears, an edible mushroom, they hold a deadly Lance of a closed cap mushroom, blowing in his ear as he is succumbed by intoxicating entities dancing about, and the Roman's are defeated

[@eidolon1809]

The naughty children here are not putti, or cupids, they are fauns! They clearly have goat legs and horns. It's shocking that the lecturer, who is supposed to be a prestigious expert, would make such a basic and misleading mistake, especially in the context of an otherwise excellent series of lectures.

[@Albtraum_TDDC]

Aren't Fauns (Satyrs) supposed to be grown men with big erections? Are these baby fauns perhaps "innocent" enough to be also called putti ?

[@user-px8zs5me4k]

Picture not perfectity in compostion balance no feelling inthe right.

[@senecanzallanute4066]

Talking about two paintings made in Florence by a Florentine artist, she quips: "Sadly they are not in the National Gallery" That's where I understood I was wasting my time and stopped watching.

[@christiandaugherty6339]

She just meant sadly, for the audience, they won't be able to see them, whilst at the gallery, as well.

[@dmmw125]

If your feelings are so paper thin best you don't watch anything.

[@marsbolt3424]

The Brits bought this at auction. What's wrong with you?

[@grahambaker9377]

Wow strange person

[@stiannobelisto573]

Nothing wrong with that, every nation wants to have the riches of the world

[@johnirby4791]

I don't believe this represents love , I think it represents intoxicated by mushrooms as means of war....for instance its customary to never eat mushrooms at a dinner table of opposing houses that are trying to reconcile

[@johnirby4791]

The cause of death for at least 2 Roman emperors

[@johnirby4791]

The Lance even appears as a closed cap mushroom, more potent than bloomed caps

[@Albtraum_TDDC]

@@johnirby4791 are you blind or something? It's a conch.

[@susanpolastaples9688]

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

[@leftertiberiuvlad]

Thanks for the Video clip! Sorry for the intrusion, I would love your thoughts. Have you tried - Lammywalness Beautiful Marriage Guide (erm, check it on google should be there)? It is a smashing one of a kind product for learning how to find a husband minus the normal expense. Ive heard some incredible things about it and my friend Sam after a lifetime of fighting got amazing success with it.