The Birth of Venus was painted in the late 1400’s by Sandro Botticelli. This classic painting depicts the goddess Venus, emerging from the sea as an adult on an open clam shell. She is calmly being blown towards the shore where she will be robed by a waiting handmaiden. It is generally believed that the painting was commissioned by the Medici family of Florence, Italy, where the painting is still displayed today.
We often receive requests to interpret classic images into stained glass windows, and this 24″ x 36″ window was commissioned by a client in Michigan. To create the window, Bill drew the image to the proper size and made the patterns needed to do the glass layout.
Once all the pieces were cut and fit to the pattern, Bill began the painting the faces and body parts on each of the four figures. Once the general outlines were defined and kiln fired, Bill added several more layers of glass paint to achieve the shading on the bodies. The finished window was fitted with a wooden frame.
