Art History Review

The Last Venus (The Birth of Simonetta Vespucci) is an art history review exploring works of art, great masters, ideas, and contexts that contribute to a deeper understanding of the great artistic traditions and their evolution across the centuries. 

The Italian Renaissance is one of its principal areas of study, while The Last Venus remains open to the diversity of periods, cultures, movements, and subjects that make up the history of art. A single work can become the starting point for a much broader exploration, bringing together aesthetics, iconography, symbolism, theology, philosophy, history, and society.

Designed for those who wish to develop their knowledge of art history without having to pursue a university-level education in the field, The Last Venus offers educational content accessible online, alongside more in-depth courses for those who wish to go beyond discovery and develop a more precise understanding of works of art.

This approach also extends into Del Vento Academia, where art history mini-classes are integrated into courses in drawing, painting, and illustration. Art history accompanies the practice, placing works, artists, and techniques within the contexts that give them greater depth.

The Last Venus is also present every day through Lysa Karell’s Instagram Stories and on Facebook, where works from museums and collections around the world are shared and analysed. These Stories offer a daily exploration of art history, its works, and its many narratives, directly online.

At the heart of The Last Venus is Simonetta Vespucci, a figure of Renaissance Florence and a muse associated with the work of Sandro Botticelli. Her story is the starting point for this review, which has since opened onto the immense diversity of works, great masters, and subjects that make up the history of art.