Botticelli Paints Birth of Venus
1478
Sandro Botticelli produced his image of Venus standing on a scallop shell, blown ashore by the west wind, her hair a cascade of gold. Commissioned by a Medici cousin for a country villa, the painting is one of the earliest large-scale nudes since antiquity. It quietly violated every medieval convention about sacred painting.
In context
Also in 1478 (4 other events on record)
- Spanish Inquisition Established · Europe · Religion
- Pazzi Conspiracy · Europe · Politics
- Botticelli Paints Primavera · Europe · Culture
- Giuliano de Medici Murdered at Mass · Europe · Politics
Before and after in Europe
Before and after in Culture
Era
Late Middle Ages (1301–1500), one of 874 events from that era on Saeculum.