Judgment of Paris
The judgment of Paris is a famous episode in Greek mythology . The young man Paris has to judge which of three goddesses is the most beautiful: Aphrodite , Athena or Hera .
In Homer the subject is alluded to, in comedy and satire it is treated more broadly.
Greek mythology
All gods are invited to the wedding of Peleus and Thetis , with the exception of Eris , the "goddess of discord ". So offended, she throws a golden apple from the door with the inscription καλλίστῃ ( Greek , for example "The most beautiful", "For the most beautiful") under the celebrating gods of the Greek Olympus . Thereupon there is a dispute between Aphrodite, Athene and Hera, who deserves this apple (hence also apple of contention / Erisapfel).
Zeus as the highest Olympian pulls out of the affair and places the judgment in the hands of a mortal: He appoints the innocent youth Paris , the beautiful, albeit outcast, son of the Trojan king Priam and Hecabe as arbitrator. Hermes , the messenger of the gods , is commissioned to bring the goddesses to the king's son, who has been living as a shepherd without being recognized since he was rejected.
In order to win the prince over, each of the goddesses tries to bribe him and offers him a price. Hera promises him rule over the world, Athena promises wisdom, Aphrodite, on the other hand, offers Paris the love of the most beautiful woman in the world. With this reward, Aphrodite can decide the verdict for herself.
However, the most beautiful mortal, Helena , was already married to Menelaus , the mighty king of Sparta . The robbery of Helena , necessary to fulfill the divine promise, is said to have triggered the Trojan War .
The Paris judgment in art
The judgment of Paris was already a frequently depicted theme in Greek vase painting . This subject can also be found among the Etruscans on bronze mirrors and in painting. In post-antique times and in a historical context in which the representation of nudity was frowned upon, the subject remained popular for paintings and sculptures. Finally, it offered the opportunity to depict three naked women in different poses, while the mythological and moral background of the scene saved the painters from being accused of profanity. The painters could look for the tension of the picture in the different phases of the preparation and, like Peter Paul Rubens, place it in the relational looks of the judgment. With Paul Cézanne the verdict has been reached, one goddess is losing her face, the other is already turning away.
Well-known examples are:
- Roman mosaic in Kos on the Greek island of Kos
- Sandro Botticelli , 1445–1510, oil painting, 1485–1488
- Lucas Cranach the Elder Ä. , 1472–1553, and his painter's workshop created numerous variations on the theme. Today in u. a.
- The judgment of Paris (Berlin Palace)
- Kunsthalle Karlsruhe ,
- Statens Museum for Kunst in Copenhagen,
- Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York
- Schloss Friedenstein Castle Museum in Gotha.
- Marcantonio Raimondi , 1474–1534, copper engraving, around 1515/16
- Niklaus Manuel Deutsch , around 1484–1530, oil painting, around 1517/18, Kunstmuseum Basel
- Frans Floris de Vriendt , 1517–1570, oil painting
- Hendrick van Balen , 1575–1632, oil painting
- Peter Paul Rubens , 1577–1640, oil painting, 1606–1608, Museo del Prado , Madrid; Oil painting, around 1632–1635, National Gallery , London and National Gallery of Art , Washington, DC
- Massimiliano Soldani-Benzi , 1656–1740, bronze sculpture, around 1695/1700
- Francesco Fontebasso , 1709–1768, oil painting
- Martin Johann Schmidt , 1718–1801, oil painting
- Jacques Offenbach , 1819–1880, operetta “ The beautiful Helena ”, 1864
- Arnold Böcklin , 1827–1901, oil painting
- Anselm Feuerbach , 1829–1880, oil painting
- Henri Fantin-Latour , 1836–1904, oil painting
- Hans von Marées , 1837–1887, oil painting, as looted art in the possession of Russia
- Paul Cézanne , 1839–1906, oil painting, 1862–1864
- Max Klinger , 1857–1920, painting, 1886/87
- Enrique Simonet , 1866–1927, oil painting, around 1904
- Ernst Ludwig Kirchner , 1880–1938, oil painting, 1913, Wilhelm Hack Museum , Ludwigshafen
- Karl Stachelscheid , 1917–1970, oil painting
- Ivo Saliger , 1894–1987, oil painting, 1939, German Historical Museum , Berlin
- There is a musical comedy in one act by Otto Wilhelm Reuther with music by Cesar Bresgen , 1913–1988 (Germany, 1943)
- Bohuslav Martinů , 1890–1959, opera, 1953
- Egbert Herfurth , * 1944, reverse image "Paris judgment" - a woman with an apple chooses from three types of men, 1976
- Wilfried Fitzenreiter , 1932–2008, sculpture made up of several statues, Chemnitz / Brühl, 1979
- Markus Lüpertz , * 1941, sculpture made of several statues, 2001, Ku'damm-Eck on Kurfürstendamm in Berlin
The plot was also reflected in literature and theater, for example in a Nuremberg carnival game from the 15th century.
literature
- Gustav Türk : Paris . In: Wilhelm Heinrich Roscher (Hrsg.): Detailed lexicon of Greek and Roman mythology . Volume 3.1, Leipzig 1902, Sp. 1580-1638 ( digitized version ).
- Inge El-Himoud-Sperlich: The judgment of Paris. Studies on the pictorial tradition of the subject in the 16th century . Dissertation, Munich 1977.
- Anneliese Kossatz-Deissmann: Paridis iudicium . In: Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae . Volume 7.1 (1994), pp. 176-188, with about 100 illustrations in volume 7.2.
- Thomas Blisniewski : "And turned his eyes to lust ..." The Paris judgment of the "Hamburg pea pod" . In: Bruckmanns Pantheon , 53.1995, pp. 183-188
Web links
- Paris judgment. In: The large art dictionary by PW Hartmann .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Homer, Iliad 24: 28-30
- ↑ Cratinus , Dionysalexandros
- ↑ ZB Lukian , Götterdialoge 20
- ↑ Apollodorus Epitome E.3.2
- ↑ Ovid , Heroides 16: 65-72
- ↑ Pausanias, 5.19.5.
- ↑ Euripides , Trojans 924-931
- ^ Hyginus , Fabulae 92
- ↑ Martin R. Dean : The moment - kept open forever . In: NZZ , November 15, 2014, p. 28
- ↑ Stefan O. Schüller: The Western excavations .
- ^ Raffael and Marcanton - a congenial team ( memento from December 25, 2004 in the Internet Archive ) Art History Institute of the Ruhr University Bochum
- ↑ Sculptures and sculptures in downtown Chemnitz. Retrieved August 23, 2018 .
- ↑ Ku'damm Eck in the Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf district
- ^ The Paris judgment. In: Author's Lexicon . 2nd Edition. Volume 7, Col. 312-314.