The Primavera

        The Neoplatonic reading of the Primavera, peeked my interest when I learned about it in my Hidden Meanings, art history course. Warburg, a German scholar of the 15th century studied iconology from the cultural point of view of Christian Neo-Platonism. A philosophy started by Plato and studied by Ficino, Landino, Demetrius and Poliziano. Plato taught that there is a 'World of Ideas', where our thoughts and ideas are in there pure forms, this is perfection. We Transfer these thoughts and ideas to the Material world through the process of creation. Somewhere along this process things become tainted, they become imperfect. Because the Material world is imperfect, we are imperfect. When we learn things we seek the origin of the idea, the logical connection that links us back to the 'World of Ideas', perfection. Love, the love for ideas and creation is the spiritual part of us that allows us to move back and forth from the world of ideas to the material world. My favorite reading of the Primavera steams from this neoplatonic philosphy. In the Fasti by Ovid, there is the story of Chloris, who was a Nymph. Zephus, the god of wind, lusted Chloris and raped her. Choris, because she was touched by a god turned into Flora, the goddess of flowers. This story of Zephus and Chloris is represented to the Right of the Primavera, we see Zephus peeking through the trees snatching up Chloris,flowers are coming out of her mouth, "her lips breathed roses"-Ovid. To the left of Chloris is Flora, the goddess she transforms into. In the center is Venus and cupid representing Love. Venus seems to be pregnant, meaning here she is represented as the earthly Venus. She represents materialistic love, earthly love. To the left we see the Three Graces, Armor- Love, Voluptas- Pleasure, Pucchritudo-Beauty.  The three graces represent the movement from the materialistic world we see represented to our right by Venus, Zephur, Chloris and Flora, to the "World of ideas". Love is the upward movement, Pleasure is the downward movement to the material world. Beauty is the function of passage to one side to the other. Mercury is the connection to the "World of Ideas" he is the messenger of gods and is seen as a link between the human world and the divine world. he is touching the symbolic clouds, the heavens or the "world of ideas". He makes an upward movement-Love.  The painting is representitive of the fact that the material side of us has the opportunity to get to the higher side of love.  We may find something beautiful, so we seek the pleasure we can obtain from it we lust after it. But if we learn to love this beautiful object we can be taken back to the 'World of Ideas' to perfection. To love the spirit of beauty  and not just the pleasure of beauty we can be taken back to the perfected idea of love.