Oh, Venus

Botticelli’s Birth of Venus is one of those iconic pieces of art—a masterpiece that everyone seems to know (and that pretty much everyone seems to like). It has been copied, reprinted, manipulated, revised, and reinvented. It has appeared on paperweights, posters, umbrellas, and tote bags. When he wasn’t busy with Campbell’s soup cans, even Andy Warhol created several versions of her. Personally, I remember her fondly as the cover girl on the splash screens for the early releases (up to version 10) of Adobe Illustrator. (I was sad when Adobe discontinued her usage.)

She was a Renaissance ideal of beauty whose beauty seems to have lasted the test of time. But who was she really? The muse behind the face? The face that inspired Botticelli? I had never really thought about it. Apparently, no one knows for sure (I guess Renaissance modeling agencies were really bad at record keeping), but according to this NBCNews.com video, Botticelli inspiration for his Venus could very well have been a real woman whose name was Simonetta Vespucci. She was a neighbor of Botticelli’s, literally the girl (or woman) next door. Seems to make sense. And Simonetta has a great, great, great (and probably a bunch more greats) granddaughter also named Simonetta who is featured in the video. (I guess if Botticelli painted one of your relatives, you would keep that name in the family too.)