Venus Induces Helen to Fall in Love with Paris

Angelica Kauffmann painted Venus Induces Helen to Fall in Love with Paris around 1790, depicting the Homeric scene in which the goddess of love manipulates Helen's emotions to make her fall in love with the Trojan prince who has come to Sparta as a guest — the divine conspiracy behind the abduction of Helen that started the Trojan War. The subject gave Kauffmann opportunity to explore the psychology of female desire and its relationship to divine manipulation, a theme suited to her sustained interest in the emotional and psychological dimensions of classical mythology. Her late Roman period, after she returned from London to Italy in 1781, shows an increasingly refined elegance in her figure style.

Kauffman employs her soft palette and graceful composition. The delicate handling of drapery and flesh tones demonstrates the refined Neoclassical style of her Roman maturity.