3 × 9
Oil on Canvas
The Double Botticelli Study Series (Valentines Day)

Working from studies of Sandro Botticelli’s The Birth of Venus and Primavera, I translated these iconic compositions into a series of rose-tinted underpaintings. The blush ground acts as both atmosphere and pulse, allowing the figures to emerge through warmth rather than line alone. By filtering these Renaissance allegories through a contemporary lens, and timed with Valentine’s Day and Botticelli’s (and mine) birthday on March 1, I aim to soften their mythology into something intimate and immediate. The works become studies not only of Botticelli’s forms, but love as renewal, love as a return, and as love to be a source of inspiration. The myrtle bush, along with the orange grove, serves as a backdrop to the mythological figures, reinforcing themes of love and prosperity associated with the Medici family patrons.

The myrtle bush, along with the orange grove, serves as a backdrop to the mythological figures, reinforcing themes of love and prosperity associated with the Medici family patrons.