Primavera (painting)
| Primavera | |
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| Artist | Sandro Botticelli |
| Year | c. 1482 |
| Medium | Tempera on panel |
| Dimensions | 202 cm × 314 cm (80 in × 124 in) |
| Location | Uffizi Gallery, Florence |
 Smarthistory - Botticelli's Primavera
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Primavera (Italian pronunciation: [primaˈveːra]), also known as Allegory of Spring, is a tempera panel painting by Italian Renaissance artist Sandro Botticelli painted about 1482. It has been described as "one of the most written about, and most controversial paintings in the world", and also "one of the most popular paintings in Western art".
Most critics agree that the painting, depicting a group of mythological figures in a garden, is allegorical for the lush growth of Spring. Other meanings have also been explored. Among them, the work is sometimes cited as illustrating the ideal of Neoplatonic love. The title of La Primavera was first recorded by the art historian Giorgio Vasari who saw it at Villa Castello, just outside Florence, in 1550.
The history of the painting is not certainly known, though it seems to have been commissioned by one of the Medici family. It contains references to the Roman poets Ovid and Lucretius, and may also allude to a poem by Poliziano. Since 1919 the painting has been part of the collection of the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, Italy.
The painting features six female figures and two male, along with a cupid, in an orange grove. To the right of the painting, a flower-crowned female figure stands in a floral-patterned dress scattering flowers, collected in the folds of her gown.
Her nearest companion, a woman in diaphanous white, is being seized by a winged male from above. His cheeks are puffed, his expression intent, and his unnatural complexion separates him from the rest of the figures. The trees around him blow in the direction of his entry, as does the skirt of the woman he is seizing. The drapery of her companion blows in the other direction.
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