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| The Judgment of Paris |
Artist:
Lucas Cranach the Elder (German, Kronach 1472–1553 Weimar)
Date:
ca. 1528
Medium:
Oil on beech
Dimensions:
40 1/8 x 28in. (101.9 x 71.1cm)
Classification:
Paintings
Credit Line:
Rogers Fund, 1928
Cranach became a celebrated court painter for the electors of Saxony in Wittenberg. Among the most popular mythological scenes produced by him and his workshop for his courtly patrons were those featuring Venus, in particular the Judgment of Paris. Painted about 1528, this picture depicts Paris, dressed in a contemporary suit of armor, as he deliberates over the fairest of three goddesses: Minerva, Venus, and Juno. While Mercury stands nearby holding the coveted prize—a golden apple (here transformed into a glass orb)—Cupid aims his arrow at Venus, signaling Paris’s decision in favor of the goddess of love.
Provenance
Freiherr von Lüttwitz, Lüttwitzhof, Mittelsteine, Glatz, Silesia (until 1889/90; sale, Lepke's, Berlin, 1889/90); Freiherr Konrad von Falkenhausen, Schloss Wallisfurth, Wallisfurth, Glatz (d. 1898); Fräulein E. Hubrich, Breslau, Silesia (by 1899–1900); [Georg Voss, Berlin]; Marczell von Nemes, Munich (by 1922; on loan to the Germanisches Nationalmuseum, Nuremberg, 1922–24; his sale, Frederik Muller & Cie, Amsterdam, November 13–14, 1928, no. 51, sold to MMA)
Copyright Image
https://images.metmuseum.org
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