<P> In the case of Botticelli's Birth of Venus, the suggested references to Lorenzo, supported by other internal indicators such as the stand of laurel bushes at the right, would have been just the sort of thing erudite Florentine humanists would have appreciated . Accordingly, by overt implication, Lorenzo becomes the new Alexander the Great with an implied link to both Augustus, the first Roman emperor, and even to Florence's legendary founder, Caesar himself . Lorenzo, furthermore, is not only magnificent but, as was Alexander in Pliny's story, also magnanimous, as well . Ultimately, these readings of the Birth of Venus flatter not only the Medici and Botticelli but all of Florence, home to the worthy successors to some of the greatest figures of antiquity, both in governance and in the arts . </P> <P> These essentially pagan readings of Botticelli's Birth of Venus should not exclude a more purely Christian one, which may be derived from the Neoplatonic reading of the painting indicated above . Viewed from a religious standpoint, the nudity of Venus suggests that of Eve before the Fall as well as the pure love of Paradise . Once landed, the goddess of love will don the earthly garb of mortal sin, an act that will lead to the New Eve--the Madonna whose purity is represented by the nude Venus . Once draped in earthly garments she becomes a personification of the Christian Church which offers a spiritual transport back to the pure love of eternal salvation . In this case the scallop shell upon which this image of Venus / Eve / Madonna / Church stands may be seen in its traditionally symbolic pilgrimage context . Furthermore, the broad expanse of sea serves as a reminder of the Virgin Mary's title stella maris, alluding both to the Madonna's name (Maria / maris) and to the heavenly body (Venus / stella). The sea brings forth Venus just as the Virgin gives birth to the ultimate symbol of love, Christ . </P> <P> Rather than choosing one of the many interpretations offered for Botticelli's depiction of the Birth (Arrival?) of Venus it might be better to view it from a variety of perspectives . This layered approach--mythological, political, religious--was intended . </P> <P> Botticelli, or more likely his workshop, repeated the figure of Venus in another painting of about 1490 . This life - sized work depicts a similar figure and pose, partially clad in a light blouse, and contrasted against a plain dark background . It is in the Galleria Sabauda in Turin . There is another such workshop Venus in Berlin, and very likely others were destroyed in the "Bonfire of the Vanities". Examples seem to have been exported to France and Germany, probably influencing Lucas Cranach the Elder among others . </P>

What is the meaning behind the birth of venus