The Judgement of Paris

The Judgement of Paris

Title

The Judgement of Paris

[Kimbell Art Museum, revised 2013]

Painting on wood

Medium

Painting on wood

[Kimbell Art Museum online database, accessed 20.09.2021]

Lime wood

[Exhib. Cat. Frankfurt 2007, 326, no. 101]
[Exhib. Cat. Basel 1974-1976, 628, no. 536]

This is the first of Cranach's several versions of The Judgment of Paris. According to Greek mythology, the goddess Eris (Discord) tossed an apple labeled - to the fairest - among the Olympian gods. Jupiter sent the messenger-god Mercury to tell Paris, prince of Troy, to award the prize. The

This is the first of Cranach's several versions of The Judgment of Paris. According to Greek mythology, the goddess Eris (Discord) tossed an apple labeled - to the fairest - among the Olympian gods. Jupiter sent the messenger-god Mercury to tell Paris, prince of Troy, to award the prize. The three goddesses who claimed the apple offered bribes. Juno promised wealth and power, Minerva military prowess, and Venus the love of the most beautiful woman on earth. Paris's choice of Venus, and his abduction of the most beautiful woman, - the Spartan queen, Helen-, led to the Trojan War.

Cranach's portrayal of this subject was influenced by Guido delle Colonne's 'Historia Destructionis Troiae', a fanciful medieval narrative of the Trojan War. This describes Paris tethering his horse and falling asleep after losing his way in a hunting expedition, at which Mercury appears in his dream and presents the three goddesses. In his painting the artist teases Paris - as well as the viewer - with an agonizing choice: the goddesses are nearly indistinguishable, and equally enticing.

[https://www.kimbellart.org/Collections/Collections-Detail.aspx?P=&TypeID=&Focus=&cid=8504&cons=true&prov=true#cons]

Attribution
Lucas Cranach the Elder

Attribution

Lucas Cranach the Elder

[Kimbell Art Museum, revised 2013]

Production dates
about 1512 - 1514
about 1513

Production dates

about 1512 - 1514

[Kimbell Art Museum, revised 2013]

about 1513

[Exhib. Cat. Frankfurt 2007, 326, No. 101]
[Exhib. Cat. Basel 1974-1976, 628, No. 536]

about 1512

[Grimm 1998, 79]

Dimensions
Dimensions of support: 43 x 32.2 cm (17 x 12-3/4 in.)

Dimensions

  • Dimensions of support: 43 x 32.2 cm (17 x 12-3/4 in.)

  • [Kimbell Art Museum, revised 2013]

Signature / Dating

Artist's insignia at the bottom left on the fountain: winged serpent with elevated wings facing left; in yellow paint

Signature / Dating

  • Artist's insignia at the bottom left on the fountain: winged serpent with elevated wings facing left; in yellow paint

Inscriptions and Labels
  • on the apple (depicted as a glass orb): 'AMORTX.N'

Inscriptions and Labels

Inscriptions, Badges:

    • on the apple (depicted as a glass orb):

  • 'AMORTX.N'

Owner
Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth
Repository
Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth
Location
Fort Worth
CDA ID
US_KAMFW_AP2004-03
FR (1978) Nr.
FR041
Persistent Link
https://lucascranach.org/en/US_KAMFW_AP2004-03/

Provenance

  • Franz von Lenbach [1836-1904], Munich
  • by descent to his daughter, Gabriele von Lenbach Neven DuMont [b. 1899], Munich and Cologne
  • by descent to her heirs; (sale, Sotheby's, London, 11 December 1996, no. 48)
  • private collection, London
  • purchased through (Adam Williams, New York) by Kimbell Art Foundation, Fort Worth, 2004
    [Kimbell Art Museum online database, accessed 20.09.2021]

Exhibitions

Basel 1974, no. 536
Frankfurt 2007/2008, no. 101
Rome 2010, no. 39

Literature

Reference on page Catalogue Number Figure / Plate
Aikema 2010 28 Fig. p. 12
AuthorBernard Aikema
TitleCranach. A different Renaissance
Publicationin Anna Coliva, Bernhard Aikema, eds., Cranach l'altro rinascimento, a different Renaissance, Exhib.Cat. Rome
Place of PublicationRome
Year of Publication2010
Pages13-33
Show Literature
Exhib. Cat. Rome 2010 249 - 251 No. 39 Pl. p. 251
EditorGalleria Borghese, Rome, Anna Coliva, Bernard Aikema
TitleCranach. L'altro rinascimento / a different renaissance, [Rome, Galleria Borghese 15 ottobre 2010 - 13 febbraio 2011]
Place of PublicationMilan
Year of Publication2010
Show Literature
Hinz 2010 B 46, 47 41
AuthorBerthold Hinz
TitleAktmalerei bei Cranach. Ein neuer Geschäftszweig
Publicationin Guido Messling, ed., Die Welt des Lucas Cranach. Ein Künstler im Zeitalter von Dürer, Tizian und Metsys, Exhib. Cat. Brussels
Place of PublicationBrussels
Year of Publication2010
Pages42-53
Show Literature
Exhib. Cat. Frankfurt 2007 326-329 101 pp. 327-329
EditorBodo Brinkmann
TitleCranach der Ältere, [Frankfurt, Städel Museum, 23 Nov 2007 - 17 Feb 2008]
Place of PublicationOstfildern
Year of Publication2007
Show Literature
Koepplin 2003 C 144, 155 Fig. 1
AuthorDieter Koepplin
TitleEin Cranach-Prinzip
Publicationin Heinz Spielmann, Werner Schade, eds., Lucas Cranach. Glaube, Mythologie und Moderne, Exhib. Cat. Hamburg 2003
Place of PublicationOstfildern-Ruit
Year of Publication2003
Pages144-165
Show Literature
Robert 2003 109
AuthorJörg Robert
TitleDie Wahrheit hinter dem Schleier. Lucas Cranachs heidnische Götter und die humanistische Mythenallegorese.
Publicationin Heiz Spielmann, Werner Schade, eds., Lucas Cranach Glaube Mythologie und Maderne , Exhib. Cat. Hamburg 2003
Place of PublicationOstfildern-Ruit
Year of Publication2003
Pages102-115
Show Literature
Bierende 2002 195-212
AuthorEdgar Bierende
TitleLucas Cranach d.Ä. und der deutsche Humanismus. Tafelmalerei im Kontext von Rhetorik, Chroniken und Fürstenspiegeln
Place of PublicationBerlin
Year of Publication2002
Show Literature
Grimm 1998 77-79 Fig. 9.21
AuthorClaus Grimm
TitleDie Anteile von Meister und Werkstatt. Zum Fall Lucas Cranach d.Ä.
Publicationin Ingo Sandner, Wartburg-Stiftung Eisenach and Fachhochschule Köln, eds., Unsichtbare Meisterzeichnungen auf dem Malgrund. Cranach und seine Zeitgenossen, Exhib. Cat. Eisenach
Place of PublicationRegensburg
Year of Publication1998
Pages67-82
Show Literature
Auct. Cat. London 1996 A 80-82 048
EditorSotheby's Auction House, London
TitleSotheby's 11.12.1996
Place of PublicationLondon
Year of Publication1996
Show Literature
Friedländer, Rosenberg 1979 No. 41
AuthorMax J. Friedländer, Jakob Rosenberg
EditorG. Schwartz
TitleDie Gemälde von Lucas Cranach
Place of PublicationBasel, Boston, Stuttgart
Year of Publication1979
Show Literature
Himoud-Sperlich 1977 30-32, 161 No. 2
AuthorInge El- Himoud-Sperlich
TitleDas Urteil des Paris. Studien zur Bildtradition des Themas im 16. Jh.
Place of PublicationMunich
Year of Publication1977
Show Literature
Exhib. Cat. Basel 1974/1976 271, 585, 628, 654 536 Pl. 16
AuthorDieter Koepplin, Tilman Falk
TitleLukas Cranach. Gemälde, Zeichnungen und Druckgraphik
Volume1, 2
Place of PublicationBasel, Stuttgart
Year of Publication1974
Link http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bsz:16-diglit-104522
Show Literature
Cat. Cologne 1969 42f. Fig. 40
AuthorIrmgard Hiller
TitleKatalog der deutschen und niederländischen Gemälde bis 1550. Kataloge des Wallraf-Richartz-Museums, V
Place of PublicationCologne
Year of Publication1969
Show Literature
Friedländer, Rosenberg 1932 038
AuthorMax J. Friedländer, Jakob Rosenberg
TitleDie Gemälde von Lucas Cranach
Place of PublicationBerlin
Year of Publication1932
Link http://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/friedlaender1932
Show Literature
  • The Judgement of Paris, about 1512 - 1514

Images

Compare images
  • overall
  • irr
  • x_radiograph
  • x_radiograph
  • detail
  • detail
  • detail
  • detail
  • detail
  • analysis
  • analysis
  • analysis
  • analysis

Technical studies

03. 2012Technical examination / Scientific analysis

  • Infrared reflectography
  • irr

Underdrawing

DESCRIPTION

Tools/Material:

- fluid, black medium, brush

Type/Ductus:

- freehand underdrawing

- thin lines

Function:

- roughly binding for the final painted version; the lines delineate the main contours, describe essential details within forms and possibly define some facial features; no representation of volume

Deviations:

- adjustments were made to the forms during the painting process; small changes (e. g. the position of the feet)

INTERPRETATION

Attribution:

- Lucas Cranach the Elder

comments:

- the number '15.' can be read on the red tunic worn by Paris, below his gloved right hand (also visible in normal light)

[Sandner, Smith-Contini, Heydenreich, cda 2016]

  • photographed by Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth

2000Technical examination / Scientific analysis

  • Micro-sampling / cross-sections
  • analysis
  • analysis
  • analysis
  • analysis

CDA ID/Inventory Number: US_KAMFW_AP2004-03

Cross-section number: EP 049

Paint description: grey over a pink imprimatura

Sample location: lower edge, left

Sample number: 050

Examination methods: microscopy, SEM-EDX

Observations:

3. varnish with fissure or crack

2. grey layer, white and black splintery pigments (carbon black?)

1. whitish pink layer, red lead (reddish orange in UV-light) and white pigments, in part semi-transparent (lead soaps?), uneven surface, imprimatura (EDX: only lead, confirming an admixture of lead white and red lead)

0. white layer, ground

Comments: grey (admixture containing carbon black) over a whitish pink imprimatura

  • examined by Gunnar Heydenreich

1994Technical examination / Scientific analysis

  • X-radiography
  • x_radiograph
  • x_radiograph
  • created by Ingo Sandner

Citing from the Cranach Digital Archive

Entry with author
<author's name>, 'The Judgement of Paris', <title of document, data entry or image>. [<Date of document or image>], in: Cranach Digital Archive, https://lucascranach.org/en/US_KAMFW_AP2004-03/ (Accessed {{dateAccessed}})
Entry with no author
'The Judgement of Paris', <title of document, data entry or image>. [<Date of document, entry or image>], in: Cranach Digital Archive, https://lucascranach.org/en/US_KAMFW_AP2004-03/ (Accessed {{dateAccessed}})

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