The Judgment of Parisca. 1528
Paris, dressed in the armour of a contemporary knight, sits beneath a tree as the three goddesses, Juno, Minerva and Venus, present themselves for his judgement, accompanied by Mercury, while Cupid appears above with his bow. More about this work
About this work
Paris, dressed in the armour of a contemporary knight, sits beneath a tree as the three goddesses, Juno, Minerva and Venus, present themselves for his judgement, accompanied by Mercury, while Cupid appears above with his bow. Paris will award the golden apple to Venus, whose prize, the love of Helen, leads to the Trojan War. Lucas Cranach and his workshop painted the subject many times, and their slender, pale nudes, set against dark woods and wearing little but jewellery, were especially prized at the Saxon court.
Written by Ochre Editions.
How it was made
- Oil paint
- Pigment ground in a drying oil, usually linseed. It dries slowly, so painters could blend on the canvas, build up thin translucent glazes, and rework a picture over weeks. Canvas replaced wooden panels in the 1500s because it is lighter and can be rolled.
Lucas Cranach the Elder
German, 1472–1553 · Born in Kronach; died in Weimar.
Cranach worked in Vienna before becoming court painter to the Electors of Saxony at Wittenberg in 1505, a post he held for decades. A close friend of Martin Luther, he painted the reformer and his circle many times and designed woodcuts for Protestant publications, while running a large, productive studio that turned out portraits, altarpieces and slender mythological nudes, including many versions of The Judgment of Paris. He followed the deposed Elector John Frederick into exile and died at Weimar.
Written by Ochre Editions.
Rights and the museum’s record
Public domain. The Met has dedicated this image to the public domain under CC0, so anyone may copy, adapt and use it, for any purpose, without asking. Our prints and files are reproductions made from the museum’s image; the museum doesn’t endorse them.
- Object number
- 28.221
- Credit
- Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
- Type
- Paintings
- Department
- European Paintings
- Licence
- CC0 1.0 Universal
- Museum record
- See it on the museum’s site
