Self-reflexivity and The Birth of Venus

In the world of painting, "self-reflexivity" refers to a tendency to thematize either the act of artistic creation in general, or the specific techniques deployed in a given work. In other words, self-reflexive paintings are, on one level, paintings about the art of painting. Sometimes, a self-reflexive work will straightforwardly present the occasion of its own creation as its subject. Here, one thinks of Velazquez's Las Meninas and Van Gogh's Self-portrait (before his easel) as the obvious examples of self-reflexive painting.

Velazquez's Las Meninas, 1656

Van Gogh's Self-portrait, 1888

At other times, a self-reflexive work will only symbolically allude to the idea of painting. Typically, such symbolically self-reflexive works will incorporate objects that seem reminiscent or vaguely similar to the tools or materials of painting. Thus, for example, a canvas sail might evoke the idea of an artist's canvas, or a bloody sword might call to mind the idea of a wetted brush. In any case, the chief function of self-reflexive painting is to explore the nature of art artistically (rather than critically). Such paintings accordingly present us with something like visual essays about the meaning of art.

To give you a clearer sense of the way that the concept of self-reflexivity can help us come to terms with a work of art, go ahead and turn now to Botticelli's most celebrated masterpiece, The Birth of Venus, and look at it carefully.

On a literal level, Botticelli's painting presents us with an image of the goddess, Venus, as she rises up from the sea. However, on a more figurative and self-reflexive level, the painting presents us with the theme of beauty's sudden appearance in the world and humankind's attempt to preserve this beauty in art. The actual event portrayed in this scene is easy for one to grasp at a glance if one is familiar with the ancient myth of Venus's birth. Venus has risen up from the sea on a clam shell, and she is then blown to the shore by wind-gods. The suggestion evoked here is that this figure of beauty comes not from our own human sphere, but rather from the heavens.

Botticelli's Birth of Venus, 1485

As the goddess is about to step from her shell into our world, a nymph greets her and offers to cover her with a purple cloak. This moment of cloaking can be interpreted as an allegorical reference to the moment of artistic creation, the moment when the artist's vision of beauty is enwrapped and contained within a work of art. The fabric of the purple cloak accordingly calls to mind the artist's canvas. Here, we may suddenly realize that at one specific point in the painting, the canvas and the cloak actually coincide; they are one and the same piece of purple-colored fabric. The self-reflexive element of Botticelli's painting accordingly alludes to the way in which the task of the artist is very similar to that of the nymph in this work. In both cases, the task involves enfolding the divine image of beauty in the earthly materials that are at hand.