The famous Renaissance painting of the goddess Venus, standing nude on a giant shell, has been appropriated, satirized and riffed on so many times — by everyone from Andy Warhol, to Lady Gaga, to The Simpsons — that it's easy to lose track of its origins.

Now, a major traveling exhibition tells the story of Italian painter Sandro Botticelli, who painted the Venus 500 years ago. "Botticelli and the Search for the Divine" features a different Venus — and many other works — visiting the U.S. for the first time. The show is a partnership between the Muscarelle Museum of Art in Williamsburg, Va., and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.