The Judgment of Paris

The Judgment of Paris

Title

The Judgment of Paris

[Sotheby's online database, accessed 20.01.2022]

Painting on wood

Medium

Painting on wood

[Sotheby's online database, accessed 20.01.2022]

The panel depicts the Judgment of Paris, a subject Cranach returned to on numerous occasions. His earliest painted rendition of the theme is the work of circa 1512-14 in Fort Worth [US_KAMFW_AP2004-03], in which the two male protagonists are dressed the same as in the present work, but are positioned

The panel depicts the Judgment of Paris, a subject Cranach returned to on numerous occasions. His earliest painted rendition of the theme is the work of circa 1512-14 in Fort Worth [US_KAMFW_AP2004-03], in which the two male protagonists are dressed the same as in the present work, but are positioned somewhat differently. The principal version of this panel is in the Seattle Art Museum [US_SAM_52-38]. There are some minor differences between the two works, largely confined to the background, and in particular to the hilltop castle and to the branches in the upper left. The Seattle version aside, Friedländer lists a further ten treatments of the subject, variously attributed to the elder and younger Cranach.[1] Cranach the Elder's earliest treatment of the subject is a woodcut from 1508 [2].

[1] Friedländer, op. cit., nos. 252-258, 409, 409a, 409b.

[2] See Hollstein, vol. VI, p. 80 (36.5 by 25.2 cm).

see [Sotheby's online database, accessed 20.01.2022]

Attribution
Workshop Lucas Cranach the Elder

Attribution

Workshop Lucas Cranach the Elder

[Sotheby's online database, accessed 20.01.2022]

Production date
about 1520

Production date

about 1520

[Sotheby's online database, accessed 20.01.2022]

Dimensions
Dimensions of support: 69.8 x 43.9 cm; 27 1/2 x 17 1/4 in.

Dimensions

Signature / Dating

Possible remains of the artist's serpent device lower right

Signature / Dating

Inscriptions and Labels

none

Inscriptions and Labels

Inscriptions, Badges:

  • none

Owner
Private Collection
Repository
Private Collection
CDA ID
PRIVATE_NONE-P290
FR (1978) Nr.
FR-none
Persistent Link
https://lucascranach.org/en/PRIVATE_NONE-P290/

Provenance

Research History / Discussion

Another studio variant, which replicates the Seattle castle but follows the present work in the placement of the tree, was sold, New York, Sotheby's, 10 January 1991, lot 30. [...] We are grateful to both Dr. Dieter Koepplin and Mr, Ludwig Meyer for identifying this a studio variant of the Seattle panel. Mr. Meyer has dated it to circa 1520 and notes that the authorship of Cranach himself should not be wholly discounted in the figure of Mercury due to the extremely high quality of its execution.

[Sotheby's online database, accessed 20.01.2022]

  • The Judgment of Paris, about 1520

Images

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Condition Reports

Date2008

The following condition report has been provided by Henry Gentle, an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's.

"The panel has horizontal reinforcing bars to the reverse and an unstable central vertical split, along which the paint is unstable. The paint surface is raised elsewhere but secure overall. There are restorations to paint losses in the sky, upper right, to the midriff of the female figure on the left, to the foliage above the top of Venus' head and the helmet, lower left. The delicate scumbles and glazes to the flesh tones and the horse's head have been abraded and strengthened. Areas of good preserved paint include the figures of Mercury and Paris, the foliage and the tree trunk."

[Sotheby's online database: http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2008/old-master-paintings-day-sale-l08034/lot.103.html?locale=en] (accessed 13.08.2019)

  • examined by Henry Gentle

Versions

The Judgement of Paris
  • The Judgement of Paris, about 1516 - 1518
  • US_SAM_52-38
  • Painting
  • Seattle Art Museum, LeRoy M. Backus Collection
The Judgement of Paris
  • The Judgement of Paris, about 1518 - 1522
  • PRIVATE_NONE-P452
  • Painting
  • Private Collection

Citing from the Cranach Digital Archive

Entry with author
<author's name>, 'The Judgment of Paris', <title of document, data entry or image>. [<Date of document or image>], in: Cranach Digital Archive, https://lucascranach.org/en/PRIVATE_NONE-P290/ (Accessed {{dateAccessed}})
Entry with no author
'The Judgment of Paris', <title of document, data entry or image>. [<Date of document, entry or image>], in: Cranach Digital Archive, https://lucascranach.org/en/PRIVATE_NONE-P290/ (Accessed {{dateAccessed}})

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