The Calumny Series

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Comment by Julie A. Struck on November 14, 2011 at 7:42am

actually begin the Calumny series searching for Truth, a concept that, at the time, scared me to death.  In terms of goddesses I discover Truth is Alethia. An initial Internet image searches yields nothing except bad fantasy artwork. When I refine my search Google automatically and erroneously corrects me by sending images of Athena instead.  I am not interested a warrior or fighting anything at the moment, and am about to give up when I see several thumbnail images of a painting that looks a little like Botticelli's famous Primavera – but it isn't. When I open the image I'm astonished. It is a painting I've never seen before, despite my more than two-dozen years of studying and teaching art. Then my heart almost stops when I take in the allegorical scene and the title of the work, Calumny. When I look the meaning up in one of my many dictionaries, it also takes my breath away: A false, malicious, and injurious accusation or report; defamation; slander. It is my story, the calumny that happened to me, at Small Liberal Arts College #2, told centuries ago by Botticelli.