Florentine
poets, we should discover the meaning of all the allegorical figures
that Botticelli has united in his work and which we do not
understand.[31]

But whatever may be the particular meaning of each of these figures, it
is certain that here we have to do with love and beauty, and that
perhaps in no other work may we find the charm of woman described in
more passionate accents.

In this world of feminine fascination Botticelli loved everything. He
knows the attraction of the toilet and of jewels, but he knows above all
that no gem and no invention of man can rival the beauty of the female
form. He was the first to understand the exquisite charm of silhouettes,
the first to linger in expressing the joining of the arm and body, the
flexibility of the hips, the roundness of the shoulders, the elegance of
the leg, the little shadow that marks the springing of the neck, and,
above all, the exquisite carving of the hand. But, even more, he
understood "_le prestige insolent des grands yeux_,"--large eyes, full,
restless, and sad, because they are filled with love.

Look at these young maidens of Botticelli's. What a heavenly vision! Did
Alfred de Musset know these veiled forms that seem to float over the
meadow and did he think of them in the sleeplessness of his nights of
May? Did he think of that young girl whose arm rises supple as the stem
of a flower, of that young Grace so charming in the frame of her fair
hair confined by strings of pearls, or, indeed, of that _Primavera_, who
advances so imperiously beautiful, in her long robe of brocade,
scattering handfuls of flowers that she makes blossom, or of that young
mother more charming still in her modest grace, with her beautiful eyes
full of infinite tenderness.

And around this scene, what a beautiful frame of verdure and flowers!
Nature has donned her richest festal robes; the inanimate things, like
the human beings, all speak of love and happiness, and tell us that the
master of this world is that little child with bandaged eyes, who amuses
himself by shooting his arrows of fire.

To say a word about the technique of this work, we should remark that
Botticelli always painted in fresco or distemper, and that he did not
seek the supple modelling that painting in oil affords; and, on the
other hand, he submitted profoundly to the influence of Pollaiolo; he
observed Nature with the eyes of a goldsmith; and he painted his works
as if, working a niello or enamel,