AllMovie

Botticelli's Calumny of Apelles is a comprehensive exploration of the legendary Renaissance Florentine painter Sandro Botticelli's last secular masterpiece. Over his career,Botticelli's enduring works evolved from religious frescoes, to feminine beauty, to allegorical works. Along with the other masters of his age, Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and Raphael, the artist helped define the course of Western culture. In 1496, the lyrical genius re-created the famous lost work Calumny of Apelles solely from description. The piece features jealousy, suspicion, deceit, remorse, and truth in conflict. Highly acclaimed director Carlo Ragghianti, inventor of the "crito-film," offers this in-depth critique of Botticelli's masterful allegorical work.