19th century, The Judgement of Paris

early nineteenth century

The Judgment of Paris

Ivory, diameter (with frame) 12,7 cm

Juno advanced first with a calm and regal step […] and with her gestures made the shepherd understand that, if he awarded him the palm of beauty, she would grant him dominion over all of Asia.

Minerva then, quickening her pace […] assured the shepherd that, if she emerged victorious from the beauty contest, he would become strong and famous for his triumphs in war.

But Venus, advancing smilingly to the center of the stage amid the applause of the theater, stopped gently before Paris. With the movement of her hands, she flashed the promise that, if she were chosen over the other two goddesses, she would give him in marriage a woman of extraordinary beauty, exactly like herself.

Then the young Phrygian willingly offered the girl the golden apple he was holding in his hand, as a sign of victory (Apuleius, The Metamorphoses (The Golden Ass): In Book X – Ch. 31–32).

The composition visualizes the culminating moment of the Judgement of Paris, the mythological antecedent that will lead to the abduction of Helen and the dramatic outbreak of the Trojan War. The carver sets the scene by placing the young Trojan prince, dressed in pastoral attire, in the act of making his fateful choice, holding the golden apple tossed by the goddess Eris, bearing the inscription "To the most beautiful." Facing him are the three Olympian goddesses, characterized by their respective attributes and the different anatomical and sculptural rendering of their drapery: Hera (Juno), the embodiment of sovereignty and political power; Athena (Minerva), the embodiment of wisdom and martial virtue; and Aphrodite (Venus), depicted in her ideal beauty and flanked by Cupid. Led to Mount Ida by Hermes (Mercury), the deities offer themselves up to the mortal's judgment in a balanced interplay of glances and sculptural contrasts that amplify the dramatic tension of the tale.

The work's narrative power is rooted in a centuries-old literary corpus stretching from archaic Greece to late Latin antiquity. Although Homer's Iliad only mentions the judgment (Book XXIV), the episode finds its first extensive formulation in the Cypria (Cyprian Songs), a lost poem from the Trojan Cycle summarized in Proclus's Chrestomathy. Over the centuries, the story has been reworked in Greek tragedy—particularly by Euripides in The Trojan Women and Helen—before finding a celebrated dramatic and visual interpretation in Lucian of Samosata's Dialogues of the Gods. It is, however, through Latin texts that the myth is transmitted to Western art: Ovid, in the Heroides (Epistula XVI) and in the Metamorphoses, gives back its psychological details and the promises of the goddesses, while Apuleius, in Book X of The Golden Ass, describes an extensive theatrical pantomime which will become the true scenographic model for artists from the Renaissance onwards.

For Italy only: with Ars Antiqua it is possible to pay in installments up to a maximum of €7.500 at ZERO INTEREST, for a total of 15 INSTALLMENTS

E.g. Total €4.500 = Monthly installment €300 for 15 months.

E.g. Total €3.600 = Monthly installment €720 for 5 months.

For amounts exceeding €7.500 or for a longer period of time (over 15 installments), we can provide a personalized payment.

Contact us directly to get the best quote.

LIVE

– SUNDAY 17.00pm – 21.00pm Dig.terr. 126 – Sky 824

– Streaming on our website www.arsantiquasrl.com and on our social networks Facebook and Youtube

All the works proposed by Ars Antiqua are sold accompanied by a certificate of authenticity in accordance with the law and an accurate information sheet.

It is possible to see the works directly at the showroom gallery in Milan, in via Pisacane 55 and 57.

We personally organize transport and deliveries of the works, both for Italy and abroad.