The Calumny by Botticelli illustrated in Latin
Video in Latin | The presentation of the masterpiece on the occasion of the European Archaeology Days
The Calumny is an allegorical painting that ancient painter Apelles had made to defend himself from a false accusation of conspiracy against King Ptolemy. A lost ancient panel remembered by Lucian of Samosata that Sandro Botticelli reinterpreted at the end of the 15th century as a new Apelles. A complex iconography that can be read from right to left and viceversa. The setting is a large room presided over by King Midas with donkey ears, where Calumny is a beautiful woman grabbing an innocent young man by his hair. Calumny is never alone. Ignorance and Suspicion also appear in the scene, along with Rancour, a pale and sick man. There are also Fraud, Deception and Penitence, in the mournful appearance of a woman dressed in black rags. And in the end there is also Truth...
