The Venus Birth, or rather her landing portrayed by Botticelli, has close resemblances with the alchemical Primaterialistic Subject and its vegetative power. But the shell carrying the goddess goes even further, indeed, beyond the very Alchemy foundations.
The Birth of Venus title was the wrong one given by a curator of Galleria degli Uffizi museum in the nineteenth century. Indeed, to be precise, the painting by Sandro Botticelli represents the Landing of Venus on Cyprus Island.
Furthermore, the goddess portrayed could be the Greek Aphrodite rather than the Roman Venus. In fact, the Greek Aphrodite was much more complex and intriguing than the Roman Venus, whom she takes only some aspects. Mythologically speaking, Aphrodite is the shell, she is not just carried by it.
Together with The Springtime, the Landing of Venus beautified the walls of a countryside villa owned by Cosimo, the first duke of Firenze. Let me imagine that, if two paintings by the same artist adorn the same rooms, there should be some contiguity. However, at the moment, the only thing the two paintings have in common is the symbolic composite construction of the scenes. That is, they do not slavishly represent unique episodes, but we know that this was typical of Renaissance eclecticism. Especially, Botticelli.
Botticelli worked as a protagonist in an exciting but troubled historical period in Florence
Alessandro Filipepi, aka Sandro Botticelli ( 1445-1510), was artistically brought up in a Firenze in which eclecticism and syncretism thrived but would however have to deal with crucial historical-political-religious changes. Botticelli was openly linked to the Florentine Neo-Platonian culture prospering at De Medici court in the fifteenth century. And we know that the golden age of Italian Neo-Platonism did not last long. Botticelli, at the time his works adorned the houses of the De Medicis country villas, still did not know that a few years later, in 1497, the monk Savonarola had some of his paintings publicly burned, scaring the painter to death who feared he would end up like his works. History tells us that, instead, it was Savonarola himself who ended up at the stake. But these tragic events did not change the substance of things: the Italian Renaissance was officially over. Never to return. To the point that, until the end of the twenty-first century, there was in Italy an academic-ministerial “protocol of interpretation” of the immense Italian artistic heritage.
So, according to the aforementioned protocol, both of Botticelli’s pictures have been assumed to conform to the piece of poetry Stanze by the poet Agnolo Poliziano, in which the beauty of the soul was magnified. But the protocol knew very well that Poliziano was very close to the neo-Platonian academies: he was one of the founders, in fact.
It is known that Cosimo di Medici entrusted Marsilio Ficino with the task of establishing a headquarters for the translation of untranslated Greek texts, especially those of Plato and the neo-Platonist philosophers. Ficino did not live long enough and the legacy was unofficially taken up by Aldus Manutius and his patrons.
Marsilio Ficino was a great friend of Agnolo Poliziano, who was in turn a close friend of Giovanni Pico della Mirandola. These three friends formed a prime trio of the new interest in Greek myths, but with a different investigative spirit. “I’m not interested, said Pico della Mirandola, to enumerate the many Zeus’ love affairs but to know what was hidden behind these insignificant trivialities”.
To understand the bond between the three friends, just look at the fresco in Cappella del Miracolo del Calice, by Cosimo Rosselli, in which we can see Ficino, Pico della Mirandola e Agnolo Poliziano together; at the time they were called “the wisdom trio”.
What has always been officially said was that the new enthusiasm for Greek culture began when a monk who miraculously escaped the siege of Byzantium in 1453 secretly offered Marsilio Ficino the text of the pseudo-Corpus Hermeticum. With this historical revision, two issues were solved: providing historical foundations for Catholicism, bypassing the entire pagan era, and minimizing and overlooking the real event of historical significance, that occurred in 1438, when a Byzantine delegation, headed by the emperor of Byzantium himself and accompanied by the highest authority in ancient pagan, Georgios Gemistos Plethon, culture arrived in Italy.
The Philosophical Watershed: Plethon
In fact, it was right on that occasion that the real watershed event in Renaissance culture took place: Georgios Gemistos Plethon – the chief pioneer of the revival of Greek scholarship in Western Europe – together with other illustrious personalities, including Cardinal Bessarion, came to Italy following the Byzantine emperor John VIII as his advisor to participate in the Council of Basel, Ferrara, and Florence. From what Marsilio Ficino writes, it would appear that Cosimo de ‘Medici, listening to his speeches, became convinced of the need for a return to the ancient spiritual and political values of Platonic philosophy, and for this, he worked for the foundation of the Florentine Neoplatonic Academy.
Then, for pure political calculations – among which the need to demolish the economic power of Venice, so linked to Byzantium, was not extraneous – the Medici family preferred to “help” a series of grandchildren to the election of popes in Rome. Those who let themselves be deeply fascinated by Plethon, like the Pico della Mirandola family, and the Malatesta family, paid very hard with political and religious persecutions. That was also the watershed towards the decadence of some Venetian families linked to the Neoplatonic rebirth, such as the Bembo, Barbaro, and Barbarigo.
But let’s leave Italian political history aside and return to the figure of Plethon: in Italy, the great old man gave speeches on Plato and on the Chaldean Oracles. Too simplistically, today we hear that Plethon would have traced the Oracles back to the doctrine of Zoroaster, from which the philosophies of Pythagoras and Plato himself would then derive. This is a surprising statement, bearing in mind that, for example, nine centuries before, Damascius, the last true and appointed teacher of the school of Athens, and who had a profound knowledge of the Chaldean oracles, when fled to Persia he was greatly surprised by the Zoroaster’s philosophy. Bessarion, Plethon’s most famous pupil, said that his master was rather a profound connoisseur of the Greek mystery divinities.
Martianus Capella’s Aphrodite
An aspect too often neglected by art historians was the influence of Martianus Capella’s Marriage of Philology and Mercury, a book that represented the unrecognized basis of so much mythological erudition of Italian Renaissance painting. One of the main deities invited to the wedding of the young Hermes was Aphrodite. Capella calls her Venus, but the character clearly has the aspects and attributes of the Greek Aphrodite, in fact, she is introduced as a “singing” goddess: will be her songs or rather those who will sing in her name, to sanction the marriage and the elevation of Philology to immortality.
We shouldn’t be surprised, as it has always been said that Aphrodite has two aspects: the carnal aspect of petty mythology and the incorporeal one of esoteric mythology. The latter makes her a transporter of souls; together with Apollo and Mercury, she removes the souls from the bodies and transports them to safety. Aphrodite had also the attribute of a sea goddess: a surprisingly large number of temples on the rocky Greek coasts were dedicated to her and the cult was reserved only for sailors who asked her to return safely to their homes. Only Aphrodite could guarantee a safe landing.
The goddess of love took advantage of Poseidon to float on him and be transported everywhere. At this point, it is easy to understand how that shell has close resemblances to the Egyptian boat that carries souls on their perilous journey. The support on which the shell sails can only be Poseidon, god of the waves. An alchemist clearly understands that those waves are the vibrations of the Spiritus Mundi.
The alchemical shell solidifies the sea
Not only the alchemists, but it was an archaic popular belief to consider shells as the only animals capable of solidifying the sea.
As above mentioned, and according to Poliziano, Venus, in her landing, represents the spiritual beauty of the soul, and the red mantle is ready to cover her nakedness adequately. It is not so difficult to spot a naked person in an Italian renaissance painting. But, to be honest, it was much more common to find young boys portrayed without clothes. Feminine nudity, like in classic greek iconographies, was reserved for more sacred occasions rather than profane ones.
Blowing Zephirus and Aura are getting Aphrodite’s shell ashore. The ancients saw the shells as the unique animal to transform water in the earth. Water element into earth element, so everything that flows is transformed into everything with a bodily consistency. In mythology and alchemy, the phrase “all that flows” can present a wide range of meanings, primarily atmospheric air with all the phenomena involved. Aura is a minor deity from Greek mythology. She is the daughter of an Oceanine and a titan; her name means “breeze” and derives from her movements, which are as fast as the wind. This minor deity in Botticelli’s painting is instead a pivotal figure to get the specific Aphrodite’s role. The fast Aura moves around all bodies – indeed, all bodies have an aura – and he is preparing to clothe Aphrodite with a flowery cloak promptly. Can we define that red cloak as a Mumia or Evenstrum?
The fact that Venus plays so many roles in mythology also makes her the protagonist in Alchemy. Apart from the shell, the first detail an alchemist could focus on is the coat’s redness. Why is Venus being mantled with red? Strange enough, in Alchemy, does exist a white phase goes to redness, and this white phase is called Venus. Or vegetative power. Or extraction of our Primaterialistic Subject.
You can hardly find no mention of Venus in alchemic literature. Venus looks to be everywhere and, like in mythology, performs varied and sometimes contradictory functions. Dom Pernety makes her a leading role in his “Fables Egyptiennes et Grecques” edition 1786. In Alchemy, Venus may be an excellent example of the rule of three (an allegory stands for at least three different concepts). Philalethes regards Venus as a major constituent of “Magisterium”. And Magisterium is close to the alchemical final goal. A rough translation for it may be “Master dominion”.
Venus is being born by Laton or Putrefaction, that’s to say, she represents the whiteness towards redness in the Main Work (see an Opus Magnum scheme). So, if speaking of Planets or phases, she is the daughter of second Saturn; that’s to say, she is situated in the metamorphosis between black Saturn and reddish-citrinus Mars towards purple Sun (see a Kamala Jnana introduction). Indeed she is white, but has “citrinus” or citrus color hair and going to be red mantle.
Some authors identify Venus with a greenish color between black and white. And after that, they affirm that her vegetative power is an allegory for the green color. Merèlle, in her Alkymiens Mysterier 1990, states: “The copper salt is blue, and in solution, it has the same color as the Mediterranean ocean in the sunshine. Food for thought. Because from this area stems the myth of Venus (Aphrodite), the woman born in a seashell on the blue ocean. Already in the year, 3.000 B. C. copper was produced on the Mediterranean island of Cypern, which means “copper island”. Here they also had, as previously mentioned, the legend of Pygmalion, which had his statue animated with the help of Aphrodite. But who was she, for she was also called Venus and was synonymous with copper in alchemy!” Ok. But what if one is not likely to use copper as Materia Tertia or raw matter? Alchemists were usually not so keen on forcing people to a strict “recipe”. Their allegories should cover universal concepts rather than definite chemical molecules, for they know perfectly that our Secret Fire does the job ( at least the most important one). Chemical proceedings are just the beginning. Without believing in a strange and undetectable substance called Secret Fire, Alchemy would be unapproachable. Secret Fire causes a person skilled in the Art to employ quite all you can think of in the material. Copper is not better than other metals. Perhaps easier to work for a human being. But let’s return to our main topic.
Botticelli paints Venus as being born from the Philosophical Sea, Saturn’s Belly, or Primitive Mercurius, at which Luna ( Moon) or Mercurius/Solvent is being returned. These are somewhat volatile substances vessels are well stoppered during putrefaction. Volatile substances are feminine. But Venus, despite her good name, is less female than Luna or Moon. Venus is losing her indeterminate feminine nature and involving in a methamorphoseon. We are always talking about Mercurius and its density stairs; nevertheless, in Venus, we are well towards fixity or masculine property—nothing to be sown inside, so vessels are open. Blowing Zephirus and Aura are getting her ashore. Zephirus, a god’s son, is an allegory for white Stone, White Sulphur. Aura represents Soul that is to be extracted from its prison. We notice Aura is wingless, and Zephirus is holding and lifting her. As stated above, all characters are performing Venus attributes and metamorphosis phases.
Venus has been said to be born from sea froth. Some air is inside Mercurius. Kamala Jnana, called Venus, or whiteness in Main Work, is a Coagula process. We know that Coagula is opposite to Solve and has a stimulating uplifting power, typically masculine. If seeing Kamala Jnana’s “the Great Work photographed,” we may notice a white mass taking much more space than the previous black one and less than the next red. Venus’s vegetative power appears quite evident. Trees along the picture side emphasized this aspect. Flowers appear at her stepping. Flowers are a symbol of Coagula or Sublimation. Of course, in Main Work, we have already finished alchemist labor or Labors of Hercules, in which sublimations have been performed by human craft. In Main Work Secret Fire, this strange undetectable substance has begun working by itself, on itself. Slightly sublimating itself in an astonishing spectacle that the alchemist may observe. Of course, vegetative power is not just that. But an intrinsic factor. Venus was worshipped as the goddess of pregnancy. If Luna or Moon is the Spirit coming out of the body, Venus is the Soul extracted from Spirit. She is the Queen of Amor ( Love), playing countless unions. Remember Philaletes calling her a significant constituent of “Magisterium”. Soul-Evestrum-Daemon-Sal Saturni-Proteus-Corpus Sideribus ( stellar body) is our Primaterialistic Subject. That’s to say, Soul is now definitely out of mass-body.
His patron probably well-funded Botticelli because metallic gold is everywhere in the painting. It innervates Zephirus wings and tree leaves. As Metallic Gold or redness can be sown before Venus Phase. To extract its Soul.
See also: Kamala Jnana, from Black to White ; Archarion & the Opus Magnum Scheme ;