The Judgment of Paris (Not the French One)
Below Cupid's foot in his 1530 "Venus and Cupid," Cranach the Elder left his distinguishing mark: a black winged snake holding a ruby ring.
An early version (c.1512-1514) of Cranach the Elder's The Judgment of Paris, currently displayed at the Kimbell Museum in Fort Worth, Texas.
Cranach the Elder's paintings served as ambassadorial tools, decorations, and social currency by those in power in Saxony, and Cranach the Elder also exerted control over the aesthetics of his patrons’ castles.
While he painted many of his paintings by himself, he managed the large demand he received for paintings and generated income through his large workshop which employed at least a dozen apprentices, woodcarvers, and journeymen at its peak.
This allowed for the mass production of paintings, including at least a dozen copies of The Judgment of Paris. The earliest known version of The Judgment of Paris is from approximately 1510, with the circa 1528 version hanging at the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s one of Cranach the Elder’s later versions.
This painting is attributed to Cranach the Elder, rather than his Workshop, due to the presence of his insignia (given to him by an elector in 1508) in the bottom right of the painting, a black snake in flight biting a ruby ring.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art purchased its copy of The Judgment of Paris using funds from the Rogers Fund in 1928. The painting’s provenance goes as far back as the late nineteenth century, where it can be traced to various Central European art collectors who sold it among themselves until it was eventually arrived with a Dutch art dealer in 1928, who then sold it to the museum.
The Met's version of The Judgment of Paris, which has been in its hands since 1928.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s version of The Judgment of Paris was painted around 1528, and displays Paris, Prince of Troy, choosing whether Minerva, Juno, or Venus is the most beautiful goddess, the prize a golden apple. This choice was of immense consequence: each goddess offered Paris a gift in exchange for choosing her. Minerva offered Paris all human knowledge, and Juno offered Paris immense power, but Venus promised Paris the love of the most beautiful woman in the world — Helen of Troy, the wife of Menelaus, king of Sparta.
Mercury, the old man in the center of the painting, holds a glass orb, the prize that the goddess’ seek. Cupid, the god of desire, aims his arrow at Venus, indicating Paris’ choice.
This choice was momentous, and would have served as dramatic irony for contemportaneous viewers. After Paris and Helen elope, King Menelaus sieges Troy to win Helen back, beginning the infamous Trojan War, which would leave Troy in embers and cost thousands of lives.