Peter Paul Rubens, 'The Judgement of Paris', probably 1632-5

The Judgement of Paris

Peter Paul Rubens

Room 18

About the work

Overview

Eris, goddess of discord, was the only immortal not invited to an important wedding. Furious at being left out, she threw a golden apple inscribed ‘To the Fairest’ among all the goddesses at the feast. Three claimed the title – Minerva, Juno and Venus. Jupiter, chief of the gods, declared that Paris should be the judge. The young man had been raised as a shepherd, but was actually a prince of Troy.

It is this moment of choice that Rubens has depicted: Paris hands the golden apple to Venus, goddess of beauty, in the centre. The goddesses had all cheated. Juno offered Paris wealth and power, Minerva offered wisdom and strength. Venus promised him the most beautiful woman in the world, Helen of Sparta – an irresistible gift.

In the clouds above their heads is the implacable Fury, Alecto. In a jealous rage, Juno commanded her to destroy the Trojans. She caused Paris to abduct Helen, and the famous Trojan War began.

In-depth

Three goddesses stand before a shepherd. Mercury, the messenger god, has brought them to the young man and alighted behind him, his cloak still flying. The caduceus by which Mercury is recognised almost slips from his hand as he gazes at the goddesses. The shepherd is Paris, son of King Priam of Troy, abandoned as a baby because it was prophesied he would bring ruin to the city. He was brought up by shepherds but the gods had other plans for him.

Eris, goddess of discord, was the only immortal not invited to an important wedding. Furious at being left out, she threw a golden apple inscribed ‘To the Fairest’ among all the goddesses at the feast. Three claimed the title – Minerva, Juno and Venus. Jupiter, chief of the gods, declared that Paris should be the judge, and it is this moment of choice that Rubens has depicted.

In the version of the story by the Roman poet Lucian that Rubens used, Paris was unable to decide on a winner when the goddesses were clothed, so asked that they should disrobe. On the left, Minerva, goddess of war and wisdom, pulls her robe over her head. Her owl is perched on a tree above, her weapons are by her side. On the right, Juno, Jupiter’s wife, lifts her cloak to one side. At her feet, the peacock by which she is recognised reaches forward with a hiss at the sheepdog lying at the young shepherd’s feet. For Paris hands the golden apple to Venus, goddess of love, in the centre. She wears her tokens, pearls and roses, in her hair. Her little son, Cupid, god of erotic love, crouches on the ground behind her. Venus clutches her robe to her breast as if surprised she has won, but the goddesses had all cheated. Juno offered Paris wealth and power, Minerva offered wisdom and strength. Venus promised him the most beautiful woman in the world, Helen, who was married to King Menelaus of Sparta – an irresistible gift.

Rubens has turned the story into a rural idyll, with a far-reaching landscape set in the soft evening sun. The three nude figures each show a different aspect of the female form, painted with a sensitive, almost tender understanding of the body in various states of subtly conveyed emotion. The textures of silk, velvet, feathers and hair brushing against pale flesh glowing in the light are Rubens at his sensual best. Only a few grey clouds and the reflection of the gorgon Medusa with the snakes in her hair in Minerva’s mirror disturb the scene, suggesting that peace won’t last.

And Juno made sure there was no happy ending. Almost hidden in the clouds above the heads of the figures here is the implacable Fury, Alecto. In a jealous rage, Juno commanded her to wreak havoc on the Trojans. She caused Paris to abduct Helen, and the famous Trojan War began.

Key facts

Details

Full title: The Judgement of Paris
Artist: Peter Paul Rubens
Artist dates: 1577 - 1640
Date made: probably 1632-5
Medium and support: oil on wood
Dimensions: 144.8 × 193.7 cm
Acquisition credit: Bought, 1844
Inventory number: NG194
Location: Room 18
Collection: Main Collection
Frame: 17th-century French Frame

Provenance

Perhaps coll. Diego Duarte, Antwerp, before 1649; perhaps sold through the agency of the dealers Picart and Musson, to the Duc de Richelieu (1629–1715) for 4,000 guilders in 1675; perhaps coll, the Duc de Richelieu, Paris, until ca. 1676. Recorded with certainty for the first time by Dubois de Saint‐Gelais in 1727 at the Palais Royal, Paris, as having been in the collection of Philippe, Duc d’Orléans (1674–1723), though not apparently listed in the inventory made at his death; recorded at the Palais Royal in 1733; bought from Louis‐Philippe‐Joseph, Duc d’Orléans (1747–1793), by a syndicate consisting of George, Lord Kinnaird (1754–1805), William Morland and Mr. Hammersley, and imported by its agent Thomas Moore Slade in 1792; exhibited in the same year in Mr. Slade’s house in Chatham; for sale by private contract at the exhibition of The Orleans Gallery . . . at. . . no. 125, Pall Mall, April–mid June, 1793 (120) not sold; for sale by private contract at the exhibition of The Orleans Gallery . . . at no. 16, Old Bond St., May, 1795 (75) not sold; still not sold, 30 March, 1796; ownership assumed by Lord Kinnaird for 2,000 guineas before 1805; inherited by Charles, Lord Kinnaird (1780–1828); for sale, by private contract, 21 May, 1811; Lord Kinnaird sale, Phillips, 4–5 March (10th [sic] ? = 2nd day) 1813 (87) withdrawn and sold by private contract to A. Delahante for 2,500 guineas; by 19 June, 1813 Delahante was negotiating its sale with the Rev. Mr. Bageley (sic?) at which date Ralph Cockburn told Joseph Farington that it was actually in Bageley’s possession; the sale must have collapsed for by 29 September, 1813 Delahante had sold it to Thomas Penrice; John Penrice sale, Christie’s, 6 July, 1844 (17) bought by the National Gallery for 4,000 guineas; exh. An Exhibition of Cleaned Pictures, The National Gallery, 1947/8, (53).

Additional information

Text extracted from the ‘Provenance’ section of the catalogue entry in Gregory Martin, ‘National Gallery Catalogues: The Flemish School: circa 1600–circa 1900’, London 1986; for further information, see the full catalogue entry.

Exhibition history

2017

Rubens and Rembrandt

The National Gallery (London)

22 March 2017 - 6 August 2017

Bibliography

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1921

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1963

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1967

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1977

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1978

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1979

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1984

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1986

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1989

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1989

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1989

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1991

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1996

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1997

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2001

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2004

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2005

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2010

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About this record

If you know more about this painting or have spotted an error, please contact us. Please note that exhibition histories are listed from 2009 onwards. Bibliographies may not be complete; more comprehensive information is available in the National Gallery Library.

Images

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Portrait of Thomas Howard, 2nd Earl of Arundel

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