Maria Sharapova

2005. As the passage also contains other figures in Botticelli's group, it is probably one of the main sources for the painting: "Spring-time and Venus come,/ And Venus' boy, the winged harbinger, steps on before,/ And hard on Zephyr's foot-prints Mother Flora,/ Sprinkling the ways before them, filleth all/ With colours and with odours excellent.". 2004. In his philosophical didactic poem De Rerum Nature the classical writer Lucretius celebrated both goddesses in a single spring scene. 2003. Flora is standing next to Venus and scattering roses, the flowers of the goddess of love. Henin-Hardenne went on to lose in the final of the Australian Open to Amelie Mauresmo, retiring due to a stomach ailement. This is why the clothes of the two women, who also do not appear to notice each other, are being blown in different directions.

That streak was broken in January 2006, when Sharapova lost in the Australian Open semi-final to Justine Henin-Hardenne. Botticelli is depicting two separate moments in Ovid's narrative, the erotic pursuit of Chloris by Zephyr and her subsequent transformation into Flora. Her loss in the semifinal of the 2005 US Open against Kim Clijsters marked the fourth time that season that she lost at a Grand Slam tournament against the eventual champion: Australian Open-SF-Serena Williams, French Open-QF-Justine Henin-Hardenne, Wimbledon-SF-Venus Williams, US Open-SF-Kim Clijsters. Regretting his violence, he transforms her into Flora, his gift gives her a beautiful garden in which eternal spring reigns. 1 ranking again on September 12, 2005 despite losing in the Semi-finals of the US Open. Aroused to a fiery passion by her beauty, Zephyr, the god of the wind, follows her and forcefully takes her as his wife. Sharapova rose to the No. For the month of May, Flora tells how she was once the nymph Chloris, and breathes out flowers as she does so.

Sharapova's reign was short-lived, lasting only a week after Davenport re-ascended after winning the New Haven title. One source for this scene is Ovid's Fasti, a poetic calendar describing Roman festivals. 1 ranking on August 22, 2005. Leaving aside the suppositions there remains the profoundly humanistic nature of the painting, a reflection of contemporary cultural influences and an expression of many contemporary texts. Sharapova was also suffering from an injury and did not complete a tournament during the season, but she had fewer points to defend and therefore rose to the No. For instance, the Primavera was also read as a political image: Love (Amor) would be Rome ("Roma" in Italian); the three Graces Pisa, Naples and Genoa; Mercury Milan; Flora Florence; May Mantua; Cloris and Boreas Venice and Bozen-Bolzano (or Arezzo and Forlì). Because of this, she lost valuable ranking points. Various interpretations of the scene exist.

However, a back injury that Davenport sustained in the Wimbledon final meant that she could not defend her titles won during the US hard court season of 2004. Next to her walks Flora, the goddess of spring, who is scattering flowers. 1 ranking, with Lindsay Davenport, who lost a historic match to Venus Williams in the 2005 Wimbledon final, holding firm. From the right, Zephyr, the god of the winds, is forcefully pushing his way in, in pursuit of the nymph Chloris. Sharapova's streak on grass was ended, as was her quest for the No. The messenger of the gods is also identified by means of his winged shoes and the caduceus staff which he used to drive two snakes apart and make peace; Botticelli has depicted the snakes as winged dragons. However, she dropped her first set of the tournament against a rejuvenated Venus Williams and lost the match 6-7 1-6 in one of the most thrilling and masterful displays of power and accuracy seen in the women's game. Mercury, who is lightly clad in a red cloak covered with flames, is wearing a helmet and carrying a sword, clearly characterizing him as the guardian of the garden.

Defending her Wimbledon title in 2005 proved to be a simple enough task at first, with Sharapova sailing through to the semi-finals with ease without losing a set. The garden of Venus, the goddess of love, is guarded on the left by Mercury, who stretches out his hand to touch the clouds. A significant portion of this amount came from endorsements. The Grace on the right side has the face of Caterina Sforza, also painted by Botticelli in a famous portrait in the Lindenau Museum as Catherine of Alexandria. In June 2005, Forbes magazine listed Sharapova as the highest-paid female athlete in the world, with annual earnings of $18 million. Above her, Cupid is aiming one of his arrows of love at the Charites (Three Graces), who are elegantly dancing a rondel. In April 2005, Sharapova was listed by People Magazine as among the 50 most beautiful celebrities in the world. Venus is standing in the centre of the picture, set slightly back from the other figures.

and promotes both their cameras and office products. Above all it is the women's domed stomachs that demonstrate the contemporary ideal of beauty. In November 2004, Sharapova signed a deal to represent Canon Inc. These are, however, not direct copies but are translated into Botticelli's own unconventional formal language: slender figures whose bodies at times seem slightly too long. Sharapova's huge success continued after winning Wimbledon, with a victory at the WTA Season-Ending Championships and consistent results. Some of the figures are based on ancient sculptures. From June 2004 until her Wimbledon semi-final appearance in 2005, Sharapova had a 22-match winning streak on grass, including back-to-back Birmingham titles and the Wimbledon crown. The Primavera is, however, special in that it is one of the first surviving paintings from the post-classical period which depicts classical gods almost naked and life-size.

However, Sharapova, Bollettieri, and Kournikova all reject the comparison. Such large format paintings were nothing new in high-ranking private residences. She is often compared to Anna Kournikova, also a Russian Bollettieri student and model. The painting decorated an anteroom attached to Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco's chambers. However, she says she does not want to overdo these activities, preferring to focus on her tennis. An inventory dating from 1499, which was not discovered until 1975, lists the property of Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco and his brother Giovanni and states that in the 15th century the Primavera had been displayed in Florence's city palace. She enjoys fashion and is known to read celebrity magazines. This is why it was long assumed that the Primavera, as the painting continues to be called, was painted for the fourteen year old Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco when the villa was bought.

and growing blonde, Sharapova is regarded by many as possessing a natural beauty and figure and has done some modeling in November 2003 with IMG Models. In 1477, the estate was acquired by Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco de' Medici, who was a second cousin of Lorenzo the Magnificent. A 6 ft 2 in. In 1550, Vasari wrote that a picture which according to him announced the arrival of spring (Primavera in Italian) was in the Medici villa in Castello. Maria Sharapova uses the Prince Shark Racket and consequently the popularity of the racket has gone through the roof. It is housed in Uffizi Gallery of Florence. She also became the first Russian ever to win that tournament. 1482.

In 2004, Sharapova became the second youngest Wimbledon women's champion in the Open Era (after Martina Hingis) by defeating defending two-time champion Serena Williams in straight sets (6-1, 6-4). The Primavera is a painting by the Italian Renaissance painter Sandro Botticelli, c. At age five or six, at a tennis clinic in Moscow, Sharapova was spotted by Martina Navratilova, who urged her parents to get her serious coaching in the United States. At the age of three, Sharapova moved with her family to the resort town of Sochi, beginning to play tennis at the age of four, using a racquet given to her by Yevgeny Kafelnikov's father. .

While having Belorussian roots and residing in the USA, Sharapova holds Russian citizenship. Sharapova was born in Nyagan, Russia, the following year. Her parents are originally from Homiel, Belarus, but moved to Russia in 1986 in the aftermath of the Chernobyl nuclear accident. 4.

1 Russian professional tennis player, and currently World No. Maria Yuryevna Sharapova (Russian: Мари́я Ю́рьевна Шара́пова; born April 19, 1987) is a former World No. 42. New Straits Times, p.