The Judgment of Paris
Artist
Angelica Kauffman
(Swiss, 1741-1807)
Dateca. 1781
Object number60.0141
Mediumoil on canvas
Dimensions31 5/8 x 39 5/8 in. (80.3 x 100.6 cm)
frame: 39 1/2 x 47 7/8 x 3 in. (100.3 x 121.6 x 7.6 cm)
frame: 39 1/2 x 47 7/8 x 3 in. (100.3 x 121.6 x 7.6 cm)
ClassificationsPainting
Credit LineMuseo de Arte de Ponce. The Luis A. Ferré Foundation, Inc.
Collections
DescriptionThe oval frame of this painting suggests a possible role in a ceiling design. Kauffmann, one of only two women among the founding members of the Royal Academy of Arts in London, depicts a myth from classical antiquity. Paris, a mortal Trojan prince, is ordered by Zeus to choose the most beautiful goddess of Olympus: Athena, shown holding her shield; Hera, shadowed by her peacock; or Aphrodite, dressed in a revealing white gown, accompanied by Cupid. The scene reveals the moment when Paris hands a golden apple to Aphrodite, whom Paris picked as the winner in return for the goddess’s promise of granting him the world’s most beautiful woman, Helen of Sparta. This act would trigger the Trojan War.
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