Primavera
Primavera is a tempera grassa panel painting on poplar wood by the Italian Renaissance artist Sandro Botticelli (1445–1510), created circa 1480, measuring 207 by 319 centimeters, and housed in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence.[1]The composition portrays nine figures from classical mythology advancing over a flowery lawn beneath orange and laurel trees, symbolizing the arrival of spring: Zephyrus, the west wind, pursues and embraces the nymph Chloris, who scatters flowers as she transforms into Flora, the goddess of flowers and spring; in the center, Venus, goddess of love, presides beneath a blindfolded Cupid aiming his arrow; to the left, the Three Graces dance while Mercury, with caduceus and winged sandals, disperses clouds.[1]
Although its precise iconography draws on ancient sources like Ovid and Lucretius filtered through Neoplatonic philosophy, the painting celebrates love, fertility, peace, and prosperity amid over 130 identifiable plant species rendered in meticulous botanical detail, reflecting Botticelli's innovative style and the Medici patronage under which it was likely produced for Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco de' Medici.[1][2]