Italian frescoes on the walls of the Louvre

Venus and the Three Graces Presenting Gifts to a Young Woman

Sandro Botticelli

These magnificent Renaissance frescoes by the painter Sandro Botticelli reached the Louvre in 1882 after being (re)discovered in Italy in 1873 during the renovation of a villa near Florence. They were found under the whitewash on the walls of the villa, home in the Renaissance to a wealthy family who had probably commissioned them from Botticelli, a renowned artist of the day. He reportedly used the daughter of the house as his model, placing her in the company of classical heroines and a Cupid, perhaps on the occasion of her engagement. The scene is allegorical in nature; Botticelli’s emphasis is on the act of giving rather than the gift itself. A second, similarly allegorical fresco shows Prudence presenting a young man to Grammar, surrounded by the Liberal Arts. It would be nice to think that the young woman’s fiancé was the model for the young man…