There's something quaint about the main painting at the "Galleria Degli Uffizi: Arte a Firenze da Botticelli a Bronzino — verso una 'Maniera Moderna' " exhibition now showing at the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Art. The work, "Pallas and the Centaur" (c. 1480-85), a large canvas by the Italian Renaissance painter Sandro Botticelli, shows the goddess Pallas Athena, symbolizing reason, taming a centaur — a half-man,half-horse creature, symbolizing savagery.
It is an astounding painting, showing great artistry, but the balance is not quite right. The figure of the centaur seems to be slightly squashed in the left side of the painting — "off centaur," if you like. Then there are the unusual bodily proportions: not enough to jump out at you, but there all the same. Pallas' arms seem rather long, her legs rather short. And the size of that pike!
Such is the artistic power of Botticelli that you may not notice any of this, and just take in the picture as a delightful work. But this painting was probably part of a pair or group of paintings meant to be displayed together to form a larger harmonious whole. Some academics have suggested that it is a companion piece to the famous "Primavera" (c. 1482).
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