The Birth of Venus by Sandro Botticelli shows the goddess arriving at Cyprus on a scallop shell, blown ashore by Zephyr and Aura and greeted by a floral-cloaked figure (often read as Flora). Painted on canvas—a bold departure in Tuscany—this Renaissance masterpiece (278.5 × 172.5 cm) likely for the Medici family includes orange trees alluding to them. Venus’s modest pose derives from classical sculpture; her gilded hair, windblown roses, and golden blossoms celebrate beauty and spring. Restored in 1987 (with alabaster and gold leaf effects revived), the painting now hangs in the Uffizi Gallery, Florence, and later inspired the Pre-Raphaelites.
