Calumny

 

 The Calumny of Apelles, Sandro Botticelli, 1495, Uffizi Gallery, Florence

I'll talk about my character, and why he hates calumny so much, I promise. But first, I need to talk about this painting and why I love it so much. Unlike many paintings, I saw this one for the first time in person. I was fortunate enough to get myself to Florence about a year or so after I began this novel. I spotted this painting across the gallery and was drawn to it. It struck me as an illustration, a perfect, immaculate pictorial representation of everything I (and my character) had spent a year oh-so-clumsily attempting to articulate in words. 

The painting depicts a praying man being dragged toward some sort of king for judgement. Calumny, attended by Fraud and Perfidy, has him by the hair; she carries a torch that appears to illuminate, but its true purpose, as evidenced by the grip of Rancor/Envy is to blind the king, whose judgement is further clouded by his advisors, Ignorance and Suspicion. Meanwhile on the far right stands Naked Truth, ignored by all, save Punishment, who spares her a bored glance as she impatiently awaits the opportunity to commence her dark task. 

What I love about this painting is how much detail there is. Every little fresco in the background walls is intentional and deliberate. It's complicated, the way reality is, the way the quest for true justice, for true equity, for full truth is. My character, my novel's hero relishes this complexity. He sees the beauty in it. He needs that complexity to be beautiful, to be valued, to be recognized, because he sees it in himself. He is complex on his best days, conflicted on his worse, and contradictory (at least as it appears on the surface) on his worst. Faced with a world, that seems to desire the opposite, that seems to favor the simple and equate that with the divine, that blinded by the torch of calumny and motivated by Rancor would rather allow Fraud and Perfidy to wrap it in righteous indignation and join voices with Suspicion and Ignorance to call out for the punishment than face the truth, my character struggles, he fears. He's been lied to, all his life, by his family in the name of protection, and by his enemies, who attempt to manipulate him. He will ignore much grace if disguised behind a lie, and allow much malice if it is only bold enough to show itself for what it is. 

If you show him you value his complexity and are unashamed enough to show him your truth, you can bend him to your will. You will not need to drag him to Judgement or force him toward Punishment. 

He will walk to him freely, and give himself to her.

By the way, it is quite possible I am in love with Sandro Botticelli. I wrote about him for my term paper in high school and have been enamored ever since. A recent viewing of Sebastien De Souza's portrayal of him in Medici the Magnificent did nothing to temper this passion. You know that 'who from history would you like to have dinner with' question? Botticelli is very high on my list.