 The subject is not strictly the "Birth of Venus", a title given to the painting only in the nineteenth century (though given as the subject by Vasari), but the next scene in her story, where she arrives on land, blown by the wind.The land probably represents either Cythera or Cyprus, both Mediterranean islands regarded by the Greeks as territories of Venus.The painting is large, but slightly smaller than the "Primavera", and where that is a panel painting, this is on the cheaper support of canvas.