Vénus et trois putti

Sandro Botticelli painted this Venus and Three Putti around 1500, during the troubled final phase of his career. If late, this mythological subject represents a continuation of the classical themes that made Botticelli famous, though rendered with the more austere sensibility of his post-Savonarolan period. The subject shows Venus attended by playful cupids. The tempera medium required careful preparation on a gessoed panel and a disciplined layering technique that produced precise, durable surfaces suited to the intricate detail expected of devotional painting.

Tempera on panel with Botticelli's distinctive linear elegance and refined figure drawing. The goddess and putti are rendered with the rhythmic contour lines that remain Botticelli's most recognizable contribution to Renaissance art.