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Collection of the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami
The Judgment of Paris
Collection of the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami
Collection of the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami
© Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami. All rights reserved.

The Judgment of Paris

Artist/Maker (Flanders, 1593-1678)
Dateca. 1620-1625
Mediumoil on canvas
DimensionsSight: 34 1/2 x 44 1/2 in. (87.6 x 113 cm)
Framed: 48 x 59 x 3 1/2 in. (121.9 x 149.9 x 8.9 cm)
ClassificationsVisual Works
Credit LineGift of The Samuel H. Kress Foundation
Terms
    Object number61.046.000
    DescriptionLike his great Flemish contemporary, Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640), Jordaens developed a highly naturalistic Baroque style characterized by a dynamic mode of presentation, a painterly approach to form, vivid coloring, and the rich effects of texture. However, in contrast with Ruben’s reliance on idealized, classicizing figures, Jordaens generally used native, commonplace models, most often members of his own family. Here, for example, the three nude goddesses – Aphrodite (to the right of Paris), Hera (in the center), and Athena (shown from the back) – as well as the female personification of Abundance holding aloft a larger cornucopia, are believed to be representations of Jordaens’s young wife, the daughter of his former teacher, Adam van Noort. Painted early in his career, during the period when Jordaens worked as an associate in Rubens’s workshop, The Judgment of Paris illustrates the important moment in classical history when the shepherd Paris, called upon by Zeus to decide who among three goddesses was to receive the golden apple inscribed “for the fairest,” awarded the fruit to Aphrodite, thereby precipitating the Trojan War.
    On View
    On view
    Collections
    Collection of the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami
    Charles Joseph Biederman
    1937
    Collection of the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami
    Reginald Marsh
    1947
    Collection of the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami
    Artist Unknown
    late 19th to early 20th century (printed 1992)
    Collection of the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami
    Henry Salem Hubbell
    1915
    Collection of the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami
    Leagros Group
    ca. 575-500 BCE
    Collection of the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami
    Artist Unknown
    late 19th to early 20th century (printed 1992)
    Collection of the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami
    Vincenzo di Biagio Catena
    ca. 1510
    Collection of the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami
    Master of the Blessed Clare of Rimini
    ca. 1340
    Collection of the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami
    Thomas Hart Benton
    1936