XXII.—The Calumny Op Apelles in the Literature of the Quattrocento

Abstract

In Florence, in the Uffizi Gallery, is the famous painting by Botticelli entitled La Calumnia d'Apelle. The picture shows several allegorical figures dramatically grouped and exquisitely colored against a background of classical arcades looking upon a distant sea. The exact date of this picture is not known, but Horne, the greatest authority on the life and works of Botticelli, places it about 1494. It is the object of this paper to trace the theme of the Calumny of Apelles from its origin in classical antiquity to the time of Botticelli, noting particularly the literary manifestations to which it gave rise in Florence in the Quattrocento.