Botticelli included trees and flowers to the backdrop of La Primavera; each individual species of flower, of which there are a total of 190, represents something different. The quality each exactly represents has been lost to time, but at least 130 of these are known to exist today. Half of the plants depicted flower throughout Florence’s hills in March and April – this painting’s depiction of springtime, therefore, is made even clearer. Not every flower is depicted with its natural leaves, further adding to the idea that the painting’s world is not earthly. It is known, however, that Botticelli placed these figures in a garden blooming so fruitfully to show just how lively and peaceful the figures’ realm was – especially under the care of a goddess like Venus, who was the goddess of love. This is underlined by the fact that she is surrounded by both myrtle leaves and orange trees, which represent love and the Medici family respectively. This being said, Botticelli did not name this painting himself. On the contrary, Giorgio Vasari was the one who gave La Primavera its self-explanatory name at least 50 years after the painting itself was officially completed.
La Primavera is most famous for its inscrutable nature; today, it is 15th Century Florence’s calling card for the same reasons that its meaning remains so heavily debated. Though it would be easier to understand if the historical context around it was not so faded by time, the ideas and images within its four sides represent more than 600 years of enlightened