When looking at art pieces from the Italian and Northern Renaissance, portraitures were the most interesting to me. I love that with these portraits, I can get a sense of the fashion and beauty ideals during the time. I was also amused that owning a self portrait brought upon a sense of power. When searching for the perfect portrait to present, I found “Portrait of a Young Woman” by Sandro Botticelli. This portrait stood out amongst all of the others because this portrait looked more modern and detailed than the others. When studying this portrait, it is clear that the painting exhibits humanism.
According to Arty Factory, humanism is an element that really shaped art during the Italian Renaissance. The ideal of humanism mainly focused on the individual being responsible for their destiny (“Italian Renaissance Art – Humanism,” n.d.). Portraitures were made to encapsulate the success of the individuals and be able to share this success over time. This way of expressing the power and success of individuals really puts the humanism ideal into these portraits. The woman in the “Portrait of a Young Woman,” was rumored to be a portrait of Simonetta Cattaneo de Candia Vespucci, the most beautiful woman in Florence at the time of the portrait (“”Portrait of a Young Woman” by Sandro Botticelli | Daily”). This portrait, along with many others that were inspired by Simonetta, has shared her beauty and represented her success for hundreds of years.
This portrait is specifically appealing because of its use of art elements. When looking at this portrait, I immediately see the use of texture on this subject. The woman in the painting’s hair is very textured in a natural way. Botticelli uses optical texture to display the individual hairs of this woman while giving her softer facial features. This really makes her hair stand out of the painting in comparison to everything else on the frame.
The colors in this portrait really sets a mood towards this woman. Soft, bright colors are used, making the woman appear calm and cheerful even though she has a straight face. The color really made this portraiture stand out compared to others in the same time period. Most portraitures featured dark and dull colors making the subjects seem sad and distant. This portrait just made me feel closer to the subject and more welcomed.
Overall, I find this piece to be not only visually appealing, but I appreciate the way this portrait displays beauty ideals during the renaissance. The humanism depicted in this may display vanity, but I love the idea of the individual living on long past their life through a painting!
Works Cited
“Italian Renaissance Art – Humanism.” http://www.artyfactory.com/art_appreciation/art_movements/italian-renaissance/italian-renaissance-art-humanism.html.
“”Portrait of a Young Woman” by Sandro Botticelli | Daily.” 25 Jan. 2018, http://www.myddoa.com/portrait-of-a-young-woman-sandro-botticelli/.
Angela's Art 
Great work. Very inspiring.
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This is a pleasant piece. I like that you chose this piece because it looks more modern and human as opposed to other renaissance works. That was my first thought as well. It is also interesting that at the time, this was considered the most beautiful woman in all of Florence. I wonder if that meant that her feature did not need to be improved for a better painting to maintain the renaissance style.
Her hair really is her greatest feature. The texture of it coupled with the soft curved lines that make up that braid style are really nice to look at. The decorations on the subject’s hair also work to increase the beauty of the woman.
Your statement about living long after death through a portrait is interesting. I wonder if that was one of the ideas while wealthy people of the time had their portraits commissioned. Her beauty will be appreciated by all kinds of people for centuries to come.
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I have a love-hate relationship with these old portraits. Like you, I enjoy looking at the different clothes and hairstyles, and I think the way people were represented differently was pretty interesting. But at the same time, I find the exaggerations really off-putting. The impossibly smooth skin, the crazy long neck, and the bird-like posture just squick me out. This is an interesting one. That hairstyle is hard to figure out; I wonder what’s going on with the cord wrapped all the way around her head. It appears to be functioning as a sort of jewelry in addition to tying her hair. This woman does seem to be looking into the future at her self-determined destiny. I like the soft lighting falling on her from that direction. It seems to hint that her future is bright.
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