What if Botticelli had Photoshop? Artist re-imagines ten classic images of goddess of love Venus with the 'size zero' treatment





A quick stroll through any decent art gallery in the world will tell you that, back in the day, artists and and their patrons liked their woman naked - and with a bit of meat on their bones.

Indeed, it is only recently in the grand scheme of things that we have become obsessed with the 'size zero' model.

Back in the 15th century, for example - when the likes of Sandro Botticelli were kicking about - a waif with gangly limbs and an impossibly tiny waist would have been told to go home and eat a few decent meals.

Does my Botticelli look big in this? The original version of the Birth Of Venus (1485-86), by Sandro Botticelli, currently in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence

Venus envy: Venus is given the 21st century treatment, with a thinner waist, flatter stomach, slimmer legs and arms, and breast 'augmentation'

It leads to the whimsical thought: What would some of the great paintings in history look like if they were painted with today's aesthetic ideal.

The wonderfully named Italian artist/actress Anna Utopia Giordano has provided the answer, taking the magical Photoshop to ten famous paintings.

Sticking to the subject of Venus - the goddess of love and one of the more popular mythical muses for artists throughout the centuries - Giordano has manipulated images to thin the waist, slim the limbs and pump up the bosom for 21st century tastes.

No wrinkles: Even the folds of the sheet have been smoothed in Giordano's version of Venus Playing With Two Doves (1830), by Francesco Hayez, at the Cassa di Risparmio di Trento e Rovereto

Cherubs still need work: Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres's Venus Anadyomene, 1848, is one of the painter's most celebrated works at the Musée Condé, Chantilly, France

The most famous of the paintings, The Birth Of Venus by Botticelli - painted between 1485 and 1486 - shows the famous ginger-haired shell-dweller with a far more lithe appearance.

Her hair might be unfashionably long, and she's still displaying far more modesty than her 21st century counterparts, but there's no denying that Giordino's version of Venus would have more luck than Botticelli's on Britain's Next Top Model.

Similarly, when Giordano applies modern-day tastes to Venus Playing With Two Doves (1830), by Fransesco Hayez, a well-rounded bottom becomes a more pert posterior (and, if you can bear being voyeuristic enough to glance at her breasts, you'll see that they have been given a thoroughly modern 'augmentation').

Reclining and shrinking: Venus Of Urbino (1538), by Titian, in the Uffizi Gallery, Florence. Once again, Giordano has concentrated on the modelling industry 'problem areas' of stomach, thighs and breasts

Flattering mirror: Cupid might be wondering why he didn't get the Photoshop nip and tuck in Giordano's updated version Venus And Cupid, by Diego Velazquez (1648), at the National Gallery, London

Glamorous Venus: Giordano's version of The Sleeping Venus (1625-30), by Artemisia Gentileschi, looks more like a 1940s calender girl. The original hangs at the Barbara Piasecka Johnson Foundation, New Jersey

Wieight watchers: This 'before and after' shot shows a fuller-figure in The Power Of Venus, by Richard Westall, private collection. In Giordano's version, Venus looks like she relaxing after a gym session

Keeping afloat: The Birth Of Venus (1863), by Alexandre Cabanel - hanging in the Musée d'Orsay, Paris - is slimmed down dramatically in the 21st century

In a brief blurb, Ms Giordano writes: 'Art has always been looking for the perfect aesthetic standard: a balance of ideal shapes and sizes to follow for drawing the human body.



'The model of beauty has evolved through human history, from the greek proportions of Policleto of Argos to the busty beauty of the Renaissance, leading up to the slender body of Twiggy and the contemporary athletic stars.'

Centre of attention: The Birth Of Venus (1879), by William-Adolphe Bouguereau, at the Musée d'Orsay, Paris - and the modern 'size zero' version

Oh my word! Giordano makes sure that Cupid has a little less to hold on to when it comes to the modern day version of Venus, Cupid, Folly And Time (1545), by Agnolo Bronzino, at the National Gallery, London



