Birth of Venus by Botticelli Garden Statue, Fiber Stone, White Moss

Bringing a Florentine Masterpiece into the Garden

This Birth of Venus garden statue translates Sandro Botticelli's most famous painting into three dimensions, built for weather rather than a museum wall. Botticelli painted The Birth of Venus in tempera on canvas around 1484 to 1486, most likely for Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco de' Medici, a cousin and ward of Lorenzo the Magnificent. The painting shows the goddess Venus arriving on a scallop shell after her birth from the sea, blown ashore by the wind god Zephyrus while a companion figure, Chloris or Aura, drifts beside him.

At 45 in H, this Birth of Venus garden statue keeps Botticelli's shell-borne pose, the goddess's weight shifted onto one hip in the classical contrapposto stance long associated with ancient statues of Venus and Aphrodite. Rather than painted color, the piece is cast in Fiber Stone and finished in White Moss, a stain treatment meant to read as age and weather rather than fresh plaster. The result stands in for the original's mythological subject while reading, at a glance, like something that has spent years outdoors.

Item Details

• Material: Fiber Stone (cast stone surface reinforced with fiberglass backing)
• Finish: White Moss (stained for a weathered, aged appearance)
• Dimensions: 45 in H x 18 in W x 11 in D
• Weight: 30 lb
• Production: Made to order in the USA, allow 4 to 12 weeks for delivery
• SKU: FS7615WMS
• Related collection: Garden Art
• Related collection: Greek Roman Female Statues

Botticelli and the Birth of Venus Garden Statue

Sandro Botticelli, born Alessandro di Mariano Filipepi around 1445 in Florence, trained in the workshop of Filippo Lippi before becoming one of the Medici family's favored painters. The Birth of Venus, now held at the Uffizi Gallery, was among the first large-scale Renaissance paintings to depict a nude mythological figure rather than a religious subject, reviving a classical subject that had been largely absent from Western art since antiquity. Vasari recorded the painting hanging at the Medici's Villa di Castello outside Florence before it moved to the Uffizi in the 19th century.

Venus, Shell, and Wind: Reading the Myth

In the myth Botticelli painted, Venus is born fully formed from sea foam and carried to shore on a scallop shell, propelled by Zephyrus, god of the west wind. A figure representing Hora, one of the goddesses of the seasons, waits on shore to clothe her. This Birth of Venus garden statue isolates Venus and her shell from that larger composition, the wind and welcoming figures implied rather than shown, letting the statue stand as a single classical form suited to an entryway, terrace, or garden bed.

Outdoor Display and Care of Botticelli Venus statue

Fiber Stone is designed for exterior use: lighter than cast concrete and less prone to cracking, with a fiberglass backing behind the stone surface. Because each piece is hand-finished, expect minor variation in texture and staining from one statue to the next; these are part of the handmade process, not defects. Position the statue where its 45 in height reads clearly, such as flanking a garden path or anchoring a planting bed, and expect the White Moss finish to weather further with continued outdoor exposure.

For More Reading

• Uffizi Galleries - The Birth of Venus
• Smarthistory - Botticelli, The Birth of Venus
• Britannica - Birth of Venus