Botticelli, Luciano di Samosata e Ateneo di Naucrati: il riuso semantico dell’iconologia antica

In two famous paintings by Botticelli, The Calumny of Apelles and The Birth of Venus, there is not only the revival of the ancient iconographic model, but we can also recognize the allusion to the biographical events of characters from the past, which become an allegory of figure and fate of the Renaissance artist. In particular, an unpublished parallel is highlighted with a passage from Athenaeus Naucratites (xiii 590f-591a) which, related to the painting The Birth of Venus, underlines the link that Botticelli wants to establish between himself and the figure of the ancient painter Apelles.