The Judgement of Paris
Historical Context
The Judgment of Paris — the mythological contest in which Paris of Troy must choose the fairest of three goddesses — was among the most popular subjects in Cranach's secular mythology paintings. He produced multiple versions, and his treatment is distinctive: Paris is typically depicted as a knight in 16th-century armour, the three goddesses are shown as elegant contemporary nude figures, and the setting is a German forest rather than a Mediterranean landscape. This 1515 version, at the Universalmuseum Joanneum in Graz, belongs to the series of such works Cranach produced for the Saxon court and its aristocratic patrons.
Technical Analysis
Cranach's distinctive female nude — slender, graceful, with a slight elongation that departs from classical proportion — is central to the Judgment composition. The three goddesses are differentiated by attribute and pose, while Paris in his anachronistic armour provides a humorous incongruity characteristic of Cranach's approach to classical mythology.
Look Closer
- ◆Notice the Judgment of Paris: three goddesses await the Trojan prince's verdict, with Cranach depicting three nude female figures in a landscape setting.
- ◆Look at how Paris is dressed: in Cranach's versions, he is typically a contemporary German nobleman rather than a Trojan hero, connecting the classical subject to contemporary audiences.
- ◆Find the apple of discord, the prize Paris offers to the goddess he judges most beautiful — Venus, Juno, or Minerva.
- ◆Observe how this subject gives Cranach an antique justification for depicting three nude female figures simultaneously, combining classical learning with his most commercially successful figure type.
