The Oldie

Botticelli’s pin-up

The Birth of Venus

On the left are Zephyr, god of the warm west wind, and his wife, Chloris, from whom fall pink rose blooms.

In the middle is Venus. On the right of the picture is the Attendant Hour figure. It is a profile portrait of Caterina Sforza – with her long, cascading, golden hair, a yellow Sforza knot on her sleeve, the Sforza emblem of an olive-branch garland and a white dress embroidered with cornflowers, an emblem she shares with Chiron (see Minerva and the Centaur).

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