[1]
On the right of it sits a man with very large ears, almost like those of Midas, extending his hand to Slander while she is still at some distance from him. Near him, on one side, stand two women—Ignorance and Suspicion. On the other side, Slander is coming up, a woman beautiful beyond measure, but full of malignant passion and excitement, evincing as she does fury and wrath by carrying in her left hand a blazing torch and with the other dragging by the hair a young man who stretches out his hands to heaven and calls the gods to witness his innocence. She is conducted by a pale ugly man who has piercing eye and looks as if he had wasted away in long illness; he represents envy. There are two women in attendance to Slander, one is Fraud and the other Conspiracy. They are followed by a woman dressed in deep mourning, with black clothes all in tatters—she is Repentance. At all events, she is turning back with tears in her eyes and casting a stealthy glance, full of shame, at Truth, who is slowly approaching. [2]
[3]
[1] John Vanderlyn, The Calumny of Apelles, 1849, Oil on canvas, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City.
[2] Lucian of Samosata, “On Calumny,” quoted in Altrocchi, Rudolph (1921). "The Calumny of Appelles."
[3] Sandro Botticelli, The Calumny of Apelles, 1494, Tempera on panel, Uffizi, Florence.
[4] Pet Shop Boys: What Have I Done To Deserve This? (Link).
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