The Birth of Venus - Famous Paintings and their Hidden Histories–Autumn 2025

Artist and art teacher Áine Andrews returns with another series of lectures on Famous Paintings and their Hidden Histories. In each lecture, Áine will focus on a particular painting to recount its history, as well as that of the artist and their story.
The lectures can be attended as a series, but are also designed as standalone talks, which can be attended individually. See series info »

Week 4: The Birth of Venus

Botticelli, 1485
Uffizi Gallery Florence
Botticelli’s Birth of Venus was a sensation in its day for its depiction of the nude female body.
It depicts the goddess of love and beauty arriving on the island of Cyprus, born of the sea spray and blown there by the winds on a giant scallop shell, as pure and as perfect as a pearl.
But what of the hidden story of Simonetta Vespucci, the face of Venus with her fluttering gold red hair, who was the ‘most beautiful woman in Florence’ and a legend in her lifetime.
Linked to the Medici, Lorenzo (the Magnificent) and his handsome brother, Guiliano, the details of Simonetta’s life have passed into history with her death at 22 years of age. Her beauty, however, remains with us because it so haunted the artist who so delicately portrayed her face in several other paintings.

1. Tues 28 October
Portrait of Hugh Lane by John Singer Sargent – Dublin City Gallery, The Hugh Lane Dublin
2. Tues 4 November
The Weeping Woman by Pablo Picasso – Tate Gallery London
3. Tues 18 November
Still Life with Cheeses, Almonds and Pretzels by Clara Peeters – The Mauritshuis the Hague
4. Tues 25 November
The Birth of Venus by Botticelli – Uffizi Gallery Florence
5. Tues 2 December
The Taking of Christ by Caravaggio – National Gallery of Ireland Dublin
6. Tues 9 December
Nativity Window by Evie Hone – Manresa – Jesuit Centre of Spirituality Dublin