Fragment from the ‚Calumnia‘ by Lucian, translated into Latin by Rudolf Agricola

In the treatise ʻOn calumnyʼ, the Greek satirical author Lucian of Samosata (2nd century) describes a painting by Apelles, the most famous painter of classical antiquity. Like all his other works, this painting does not survive; it is only known from literary descriptions.

In the fifteenth century, the Augsburg bishop Johannes II von Werdenberg commissioned the humanist Rudolf Agricola to produce a Latin translation of Lucian’s works. The dedicatory epistle to the translation was written down on this leaf in 1496 in Heidel­berg, where Agri­co­la had taught until his death in 1485. On its rear, the Student Johannes Duft from Schmal­kal­den recreated the scene described in Lucian’s text as a picture – as the first artist north of the Alps.

The allegorical scene shows a young ruler on a throne surrounded by female personification of vices. Their evil advice is absorbed by the ruler who is disfigured by long donkey ears, while the personifications of Truth and Contrition turn away from the scene.