And around this scene, what a beautiful frame of verdure and flowers!  Nature has donned her richest festal robes; the inanimate things, like the human beings, all speak of love and happiness, and tell us that the master of this world is that little child with bandaged eyes, who amuses himself by shooting his arrows of fire.

To say a word about the technique of this work, we should remark that Botticelli always painted in fresco or distemper, and that he did not seek the supple modelling that painting in oil affords; and, on the other hand, he submitted profoundly to the influence of Pollaiolo; he observed Nature with the eyes of a goldsmith; and he painted his works as if, working a niello or enamel, he had to set each figure in gold-wire.

Finally, is it necessary to speak of the date of the Primavera?  This would occasion a long discussion if the space were accorded me.  Let it suffice to say that the biography written by Vasari merits no credence, that it has been unfortunately accepted by the majority of historians, and that we have not yet a good chronology of Botticelli’s works, nor even a simple catalogue.  As for the chronology, most historians, relying upon Vasari, place nearly all of Botticelli’s works before his trip to Rome in 1481.  I think, on the contrary, and I will prove it elsewhere, that the great productive period of Botticelli belongs to the ten last years of the century and that the Primavera should be classed in this period.  The Primavera represents, with The Birth of Venus and The Adoration of the Magi, the culminating point of Botticelli’s art.

    Jouin, Chefs-d’oeuvre; Peinture, Sculpture, Architecture
    (Paris, 1895-97).

FOOTNOTES: 

[31] See notably the Stanze of Politian, where one will find nearly all the details of Botticelli’s picture; the shady grove, the flowery meadow, even the attitudes and the garments of the personages.  Is it not a figure of Botticelli’s which is thus described: 

  “She is white and white is her robe,
  All painted with flowers, roses, and blades of grass.”

Transcriber’s Notes: 

{a} Possible typo for sinister?

{b} Van die Beroerlicke Tijden in die Nederlanden.  Tijden appears in text as Tij den.  Other sources give Tyden as another spelling.

Most of the illustrations in this book have links to colored images on other sites on the internet.  If the links don’t work, try the “Web Gallery of Art” at http://www.wga.hu/ Then search for the artist or painting of interest.  Since this is not an html file, you may wish to copy to link you are interested in, into your browser, where you can view the related image.

BOTTICELLI The Birth of Venus Florence 6 http://www.wga.hu/art/b/bottice
l/5allegor/30birth.jpg

VERONESE The Queen of Sheba Turin 16