Ep. 65 - Sandro Botticelli's "The Birth of Venus" (1485-86)
The Lonely Palette

Ep. 65 - Sandro Botticelli's "The Birth of Venus" (1485-86)

B2Upper-intermediateSeptember 12, 202335 min
  • One speaker
  • Arts & culture

I can't help the way I'm feeling/Goddess of love, please take me to your leader/I can't help, I keep on dancing. - Lady Gaga The neoplatonic ideal of beauty, the girl on the half-shell, the naked chick riding a clam. Her tilted head and fluttery hair are recognized by everyone and their grandma, but no one - experts included - can explain just why in the heck this painting is so iconic. Shell we take on the challenge? See the images. Music used: Django Reinhardt, “Django’s Tiger” Joan Baez...

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Well, the center of the picture shows a young woman with very long hair is strategically

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  • 212 harder words (B2 and up) in the whole episode.

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The opening of the episode. The whole transcript is in the player.

1:25

Alright, I'm looking at a fairly modest naked woman on a clam. Well, the center of the picture shows a young woman with very long hair is strategically placed. Like alabaster skin, not a flaw on her with long flowing red hair that is sort of wrapping

1:49

around her. She is standing in the middle of a giant seashell. that Shell reads as almost comically gigantic compared to the waves and the shoreline and the landscape. It's a Contra Poster post.

2:03

A Contra Poster? Yes. Isn't there a song where Joan Baez describes herself as the girl on the half shell? I think it's from this painting.

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