Paper short abstract:

In The Birth of Venus, Giorgio Vasari personified Cosimo as Neptune, who observes the arrival of Venus from the sea with enthusiasm, an allusion to his political achievement and governance transformation on and expansion of sovereignty from Duke of Florence to Duke of Tuscany.

Paper long abstract:

Giorgio Vasari conflated two mythological sagas associated with water: one is the Birth of Venus, the other is the governance of the sea by Neptune and Thetis in the composition depicting the element of Water, The Birth of Venus, in Sala degli Elementi of the Palazzo Vecchio, in Florence.

In the imagery, Neptune, son of Saturn, experiences a sea ceremony in honor of Venus' birth. The sea festivity is caused by Saturn's castration, which resulted in the creation of a beautiful "frutto di mare" Venus. Vasari depicted a sea ceremony where all the sea creatures manifest their joy for the arrival of Venus. Their rejoice is expressed with multiple offerings of "frutti di mare," such as corals, pearls and conchs as well as lobsters, dolphins and other fish, in celebration of Venus's birth.

This paper focuses on the symbolism of the movement of water and its substance alluding to transformation and emergence of a clean moral slate. Vasari employed the water symbolism to conduit the political victory of Cosimo 1 de' Medici over Siena's prolonged war. With this conquest, Cosimo conquered the territory of Siena, which will grant him the governance over Tuscany. Vasari personified Cosimo as Neptune, who observes the arrival of Venus from the sea with great enthusiasm, an allusion to Cosimo's political achievement. While the birth of Venus, which traditionally alludes to transformation, birth and revival, here politically implies Cosimo's governance transformation on and expansion of sovereignty from Duke of Florence to Duke of Tuscany.