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Read, Look, Reflect: 1
Sandro Boticelli’s painting, Primavera, depicts nine obvious figures placed throughout foreground of the painting. Though some of the characters seem to have relationshipsand awareness of others in the painting, some are stand-alone and give the impression that they are not aware of the other inhabitants of the work. Ultimately, the scene appears to depict a narrativewhere the subjects exist in different times and are unaware and unphased by the presence of the other subjects in the painting. After reading the passage from Ovid’s Fasti, I believe that this paintingwas created as a pictorial representation of the work and captures a mythological and classical Greek or Roman atmosphere.
Beginning with the first line, “ ‘Mother of the flowers, approach, so wecan honour you’” appears to be referring to the lady towards the right of the painting with a flower crown and various flower adornments, as she is in a walking motion. The next stand out line is asfollows and seems to depict the interaction and struggle between the two characters on the far right, “ It was spring, I wandered…[he] had given his brother authority for rape…[granted] me the name ofbride.” The man looks as though he is not mortal due to his gray appearance and there is obvious conflict between the two. Finally, the three women standing together on the left side of the paintingcould either represent “The Graces” (referred to at the end of the passage) or Chloris/Flora before Zephyrus took her as his bride. The latter seems most probable, as Cupid appears to be shooting hisarrow at one of them, signifying the forthcoming marriage. That leaves the two characters unaccounted for and I am unsure of their identities.
In conclusion, the painting appears to parallel the textand it can be determined that many of the female characters are the same woman in different point in a narrative. The many references to flowers and the ethereal depiction of the painting’s subjects...