Scenic stories (1490s)

The ability to give the written word visual form in painted pictures is also something that sets Botticelli's later scenic works apart. The small painting of the Calumny of Apelles was not a commissioned work. It is not certain why Botticelli created it, executed with the fineness of a miniature. Many interpretations have been suggested for the painting, without any of them becoming entirely clear.

Botticelli also set dramatic scenes amidst a lavishly decorated architecture in the paintings of the Story of Virginia and The Story of Lucretia. It is thought that the two panels formed a pair. The ancient Roman writer Livy, who told the stories of the two Roman heroines, also connected Virginia and Lucretia with each other.

St Zenobius, Florence's first bishop, was particularly venerated. In the 15th century an active cult dedicated to this local saint, who died in 417, was revived. Botticelli created a four-part cycle of paintings in which he depicted the deeds and miracles of St Zenobius. A description of the life of the saint, published in 1487, may well have been one of the artist's sources.