La Primavera (ca. 1481), by Sandro Botticelli (1445-1510)

The painting is an allegory of Spring, with mytological figures identified as (right to left): Zephyr running after the nymph Clori, who transforms herself into Flora, goddess of Fecundity; in the center is Venus, goddess of Love and here represented as queen of her realm, with Cupid straining a dart to the three Graces, while Mercury raises the caduceo to the clouds. Many flowers in the grass symbolize wedding: the picture could be indeed commissioned by Lorenzo the Magnificent as the wedding present offered to his cousin Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco dei Medici, who married in 1482 Semiramide Appiani. In the villa of Castello, near Florence, where lived this medicean branch the painting is documented in 1499. Tempera on wood, cm 203x314. Restored 1982. Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence, Inv. 1890, n. 8360
Image source: Galeria degli Uffizi,