Artists never produce art without relating it to their own culture. Sandro Botticelli is an Italian Renaissance fifteenth century painter, so in his painting the Primavera, he incorporates various ideologies from the fifteenth century Italian renaissance. Lilian Zirpolo, author of Botticelli’s Primavera: A Lesson for the Bride, describes the connections between the painting and these ideologies using a feminist approach. She acknowledges Neoplatonism and the Medici Circle, and uses it to describe the roles a woman was expected to play in both society and marriage. It has been theorized that the painting is supposed to represent the marriage between Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco de’ Medici and Semiramide d’Appiani, but Zirpolo’s essay focuses specifically on the brides moral lessons. Zirpolo argues that the function of Primavera is to teach women of their expected roles. In order to convey her message she relates the Primavera to other fifteenth century pieces of art. First of all, she states that the Primavera was located in the Medici house on …show more content…
I am hardly educated about art history, and many of the hidden meanings inside of artwork remain a mystery to me. Thanks to Art History I have a much better understanding of art than I used to before though. From what I have learned in class, I would have initially noticed that the pearls worn by the three graces represented chastity and purity and that cupid shooting his arrow represented falling in love. However, I would have never realized the scene with Zephyrus and Chloris was a rape that represented submission or that procreation was incorporated whatsoever. I really enjoyed readying Lilian Zirpolo’s essay because it opened my eyes to how powerful symbols in art can be. In the future I will be more curious about the pieces of art I view and I will be able to do a better job of understanding arts symbolism because I read this