Botticelli’s The Birth of Venus was the first full-length, non-religious nude since antiquity, and was made for Lorenzo de Medici. It’s claimed that the figure of the Goddess of Love is modeled after one Simonetta Cattaneo Vespucci, whose favors were allegedly shared by Lorenzo and his younger brother, Giuliano.

The painting Venus is a brazen depiction of sexual intercourse between the wave of water, which is the sperm, and its assault on the shell. Venus's erect stature and long hair are also erotically suggestive.