The Judgment of Paris

By the time Regnault painted his Judgment of Paris in 1812, the subject had accumulated centuries of interpretive weight — from Cranach to Rubens to Watteau — and any new treatment inevitably measured itself against these predecessors. In the mythological narrative, the Trojan prince Paris must award the golden apple to the most beautiful of three goddesses: Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite. The subject fascinated artists because it required the display and comparison of three female ideals, allowing the demonstration of pictorial variety within a unified mythological frame. For Regnault in 1812, working within the Empire's official culture, the subject also carried classical authority that aligned it with the Neoclassical programme. The Detroit Institute of Arts, which holds the work, acquired a painting that represents Regnault at the height of his mature period, when his figure painting had achieved its most assured balance between idealised form and sensuous colour.

Three female nudes in varying poses demand careful management of spatial grouping and tonal differentiation. Regnault distinguishes the three goddesses through subtle variations in skin tone and lighting direction, avoiding the visual monotony that could result from three similarly idealised figures in close proximity. Paris is rendered as a foil that directs the viewer's attention.