JUNE 361 



famous painter at the Court of the first Alexander, 

 and then of Ptolemy, about 330 B.C.: and that Lucian 

 was a Greek writer of the time of Marcus Aurelius, 

 and that his manuscripts were brought from Constanti- 

 nople to Italy about 1425, and printed for the first 

 time at Florence in 1496, Botticelli's own date being 

 1437-1515. 



The whole picture is painted with the greatest finish 

 and delicacy, and with an immense wealth of detail. In 

 the background are three highly decorated arches, with 

 a pure, blue sky, tenderly graduated, showing through. 

 In the middle of the picture is Calumny, hurrying 

 towards the Judge, and attended by two women, repre- 

 senting Hypocrisy and Treachery. Calumny drags a 

 rather feeble young man, without clothes, by the hair of 

 his head along the ground. He holds his hands up 

 in an attitude of supplication, and is supposed to 

 represent Innocence. Envy, a male figure clothed in 

 shabby garments, stands between this group and the 

 Judge's throne. Ignorance and Distrust are whisper- 

 ing into the long donkey's ears of the Judge. On the 

 left of the picture is the black, draped figure of Re- 

 morse, who turns and looks at a beautiful naked young 

 woman representing Truth. Calumny has seized and 

 is carrying before the Judge Truth's lighted torch. It 

 is impossible to look at this picture and not have brought 

 to one's mind the wretched fate of the modern prisoner 

 on the Devil's Island. 



Had nothing been preserved to us of Botticelli's but 

 these two pictures, I think we should have known that 

 he was one of the men who were most in advance of 

 their time, and one of the greatest painters the world has 

 ever known. To my mind, the Botticellis in our own 

 National Gallery give no sort of idea of his gifts and 

 powers as seen at Florence. 



