No one is entirely sure what this painting means.
There have been over forty distinct scholarly interpretations since Botticelli became fashionable again in the 19th century.
Neoplatonic allegory.
Wedding gift.
Political metaphor.
A meditation on the Seasons.
Each reading is supported by some details and contradicted by others.
This ambiguity is probably intentional.
What's visible: on the right, Zephyr the wind god pursues and physically transforms the nymph Chloris into Flora, goddess of spring — the only action in the painting.
Venus presides at the centre.
Cupid fires an arrow.
Three Graces dance in transparent robes.
Mercury, at the left edge, disperses clouds.
The orange grove behind them is deep and dark and full.
It was painted for a young Lorenzo de' Medici (a cousin of Lorenzo the Magnificent), probably for his villa, and remained privately held for three centuries before anyone outside the family saw it.
Fun fact: the painting contains approximately 500 species of identifiable plants.
Botanists have used it as a reference for studying 15th-century Tuscan flora.
Botticelli painted every flower correctly and in season — they all bloom in spring.
He knew exactly what he was doing, even if we don't.
