Speakasso › Paintings › Primavera
Primavera
Sandro Botticelli, 1480
Nine figures stand before a dark grove of orange trees. On the right the blue wind Zephyr seizes the nymph Chloris, who turns into Flora in a dress scattered with blossoms. Venus stands at the centre, blindfolded Cupid hovers above, the Three Graces dance on the left and Mercury waves the clouds away. The panel hung in a Medici house and was probably linked to a wedding. Scholars still argue over its meaning, but it is plainly a hymn to spring, love and fertility, painted with such botanical care that every flower can be identified.
What is in the painting
- Blue wind. The figure on the far right is a bluish winged youth with puffed cheeks.
- Three dancers. On the left three women in sheer gowns link hands in a ring.
- Carpet of flowers. The whole lower edge is strewn with tiny blooms on dark grass.
Did you know? Botanists have counted around five hundred plant species in the picture, nearly two hundred of them in flower.
About the painting
- Artist
- Sandro Botticelli (1445–1510)
- Year
- 1480
- Style
- Early Renaissance
- Medium
- Tempera on panel
- Size
- 202 × 314 cm
- Where to see it
- Uffizi Gallery, Florence
How to describe it in Speakasso
In Speakasso you describe the painting in your own words and an AI draws it again. These words are forbidden in this round — each one costs 15 points:
A description that scores high
Nine figures stand in a grove of dark trunks hung with golden fruit. In the center, a calm lady in a red wrap; above her, a small blindfolded cupid aims an arrow. On the left, three pale women in sheer gowns dance in a ring. On the right, a bluish winged youth grabs a fleeing nymph, next to a girl in a dress covered in blossoms. Tiny blooms in dark grass, delicate tempera painting.
The tricky part: Call the grove dark trunks hung with round golden fruit, and her outfit a gown covered in painted blossoms.
The method behind it: what is painted first, then where things are, then colour and light, then the style. Read the full guide
