DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.31769#0039
The viewer may well be able to identify various myth-
ological personalities in the group of figures described
here, but the overall meaning of the painting will re-
main a mystery if one is unfamiliar with certain under-
lying texts. No naive understanding is possible; no
innocent eye would be able to contribute significantly to
a full identification of the individuals portrayed here
without having first read certain literary sources (see
Literary Appendix on La Primavera). An mformed viewer
would soon notice that the young man at the left edge
of the scene has wings on his shoes and that, with his
snake-entwined rod, he is prodding a small bank of
clouds or mist — evidently dividing or dispersing them.
The snake-entwined rod (also known as a herald’s wand
or caduceus) and the winged shoes clearly identify this
figure as Mercury, the son of Jupiter and the nymph
Maia. 24 Mercury, the messenger of the gods as well as
the god of merchants and thieves, was reputed to drive
away the winter winds and was regarded as the harbin-
ger of spring. More detailed information on his activ-
ities and on his snake-entwined rod may be found in
Virgil’s Aeneid, where he is described as a god dividing
the wmds and the clouds (nubila) with his wand (Ap-
pendix, no. i). In interpreting the details in La Primavera,
the last line a passage from the Aeneid is probably sig-
nificant: “So shepherding the winds before him with his
wand, he swam through the murk of the clouds.” No
other classical writer aside from Virgil in his Aeneid
describes Mercury as dividmg the wintry clouds. It is
clear that in portraying Mercury with his wand in this
manner, Botticelli is alluding specifically to the disper-
sing of the winter winds and the beginning of spring.
The flying cherub is just as identifiable as Mercury.
The cherub is Amor, easily recognizable by his bow,
38
ological personalities in the group of figures described
here, but the overall meaning of the painting will re-
main a mystery if one is unfamiliar with certain under-
lying texts. No naive understanding is possible; no
innocent eye would be able to contribute significantly to
a full identification of the individuals portrayed here
without having first read certain literary sources (see
Literary Appendix on La Primavera). An mformed viewer
would soon notice that the young man at the left edge
of the scene has wings on his shoes and that, with his
snake-entwined rod, he is prodding a small bank of
clouds or mist — evidently dividing or dispersing them.
The snake-entwined rod (also known as a herald’s wand
or caduceus) and the winged shoes clearly identify this
figure as Mercury, the son of Jupiter and the nymph
Maia. 24 Mercury, the messenger of the gods as well as
the god of merchants and thieves, was reputed to drive
away the winter winds and was regarded as the harbin-
ger of spring. More detailed information on his activ-
ities and on his snake-entwined rod may be found in
Virgil’s Aeneid, where he is described as a god dividing
the wmds and the clouds (nubila) with his wand (Ap-
pendix, no. i). In interpreting the details in La Primavera,
the last line a passage from the Aeneid is probably sig-
nificant: “So shepherding the winds before him with his
wand, he swam through the murk of the clouds.” No
other classical writer aside from Virgil in his Aeneid
describes Mercury as dividmg the wintry clouds. It is
clear that in portraying Mercury with his wand in this
manner, Botticelli is alluding specifically to the disper-
sing of the winter winds and the beginning of spring.
The flying cherub is just as identifiable as Mercury.
The cherub is Amor, easily recognizable by his bow,
38