Botticelli “The Calumny of Apelles” at the Uffizi Gallery in Florence

Botticelli, The Calumny of Apelles, Uffizi Gallery, Florence Italy

The Calumny of Apelles Tempera on wood (62 x 91 cm) 1494

Botticelli staged here the abject action of the Calumny perpetrated before our eyes.

In contrast to the harmony of architecture in which a scene full of violence takes place.

The table shows the narrow path from ignorance to suspicion, fuelled by doubt.

Sitting on his throne, King Midas with the ears of a donkey of the evil judge, in his guilty moral blindness, he reaches out to the Gall, represented by a man with a livid and neglected appearance, hooded in a worn cloak.

The Calumny of Apelles The man holds the Calumny by the wrists, a beautiful woman who hangs through the hair the slandered, naked and helpless in his protests of innocence.

Perfidy and Deception style the hair of the Calumny with the deceptive flowers of simplicity and innocence, tying it the white ribbon of purity.

Penance, represented by an old man wrapped in a black coat, turns to the left to look at the Truth, naked and showing the sky.

An inspired gesture to indicate that true justice, the consolation of the afflicted, the rehabilitation of the innocent can only come from above.

Thus, the palace where the scene takes place, decorated with examples of pagan virtues and Christian holiness, is transformed into a court of history, symbol of the ancient world, of a world where ideas reign, where the root causes of human actions reside.

In this way, the allegory shows the limits of human wisdom, ancient wisdom, which cannot reach righteousness without being enlightened by the revelation of grace.

Botticelli Spring | Venus | Pallas | Calumny | Judith | Young Man | Magi Novella | Magi (1500) | Annunciation | Annunciation Martino |
Artists Botticelli | Michelangelo |
Uffizi Artists | Location | Opening Hours Tickets | Authorizations

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