Sandro Botticelli’s Birth of Venus is in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, Italy. He is believed to have painted it in the mid 1480s.
Birth of Venus is straightforwardly representing a scene from Greek mythology (and it is aesthetically appealing), making it accessible for a wide audience to appreciate. Venus is being blown by the wind (Zephyr on her left) to land, with one of the three Horae goddesses on her right (assumed to represent spring because of the flowers on her clothes - a time of birth).
Botticelli was one of the first artists in Western art creating non-religious paintings (i.e., this one), representing a female nude out of the context of religion. It’s not excusable under the guise of a biblical story. Rather, it’s a celebration of the female body and beauty that Venus represents.
Remember the gaze mentioned about Leonora Carrington, though? 15th-century Italy is no exception to subjecting women to the role of object. Her pose shows has her modestly covering herself, putting the viewer in a position of power/voyeur. Nude male figures in Italian Renaissance art are proud and represent strength and honor. Nude women, however, Christian symbol or not, are passive subjects. Venus’ gaze here is not straight-on like Leonora Carrington’s was. She is tilted to the side, looking demurely out at the viewer.
Venus is standing in a contrapposto pose, where her weight is unevenly distributed. This is a very common pose in Italian Renaissance art (Michelangelo’s David statue is a popular example):
Contrapposto means “opposite” in Italian. The pose gives the figure an asymmetrical shape with their hips and shoulders angled at different directions. It looks relaxed and balanced, giving figures a more life-like appearance and suggesting movement.