Botticelli's Birth of Venus - A friend of mine tries his hand at being an art critic.  … I'm not sure who the other people are because Botticelli didn't name them in the title but they are probably her Mum and Dad on our left and the midwife on our right. The midwife is about to put a towel on Venis because she is probably really cold because she was born in the sea. The Dad is showing the Mum how to take big breaths because when giving birth you need to take lots of long deep breaths.       Venis is standing in an oyster; this is a twofold metaphor, or double entendre if you will. One explanation of this symbol is that she is a pearl (which come out of oysters) and that means she is really nice. Another possible understanding of this metaphor is that because they had to give birth at sea there were no neonatal units so they had to use an oyster to stabilise her environment.      …
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