Tag Archives | florence

Botticelli’s Hot Babe Molested by the Chimera-Beast of Bufflax XII

Okay, this one is actually called The Birth of Venus, and it was painted sometime between 1485-86 for Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco de’ Medici, who was nicknamed Popolano; this was because he always brought lots of nice drugs to the cool parties. (He was a noted patron of the arts, and Sandro Botticelli was especially fond of Popolano’s “special” mushroom pasta.)

I’d say this is arguably one of the most famous paintings of the early renaissance, and it has certainly maintained its popularity. I was lucky enough to see this one in person at the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, and it’s a bit like the Mona Lisa in the Louvre — the painting is covered with glass, mobbed by Japanese tourists, and is stamped on everything from t-shirts to toilet-brush cozies. The glass is particularly unfortunate, as it’s highly reflective.

Then again, it has to be, in case of the Bufflaxians return and fire laser weapons at it.

You can find more Famous Paintings with SF Titles here.

Alltop is the Chimera-Beast of Humor I! If you do one of these — famous paintings with SF/F titles, let me know, and I will link to it from the gallery. Originally published in May, 2010.

Leonardo Da Vinci’s Woman with Telekinetic Powers About to Destroy Sienna

Many people have described this as one of history’s most mysterious paintings. They have described the smile on this woman’s face as “enigmatic” and “curious” and highly erotic. Nothing could be farther from the truth.

As you know, Florence, where Da Vinci painted this, was in a very long and intense struggle with Sienna, a nearby city that also intended to rule all Italy. The military conflict widened as both independent cities created breeding programs to produce women with mental powers. Florence won this corsa del cervello (literally, the brain race) in the person of Mona Lisa, pictured here just before she flattened Sienna with a shattering blast of telekinetic power.

Actual details available at Wikipedia, but yes, it’s Mona Lisa, painted circa 1503-1506.

As always, if you’ve done one of these, let me know via Twitter (@markarayner) or via email: markarayner (at) gmail.com. The gallery will be up by the end of the week – promise!

Alltop has astounding powers of funny.