The Judgement of Paris

The Judgement of Paris, is one of the oldest subjects in European Painting. It was already popular by greek and roman artist. And at the end of the middle ages it became one of the most favoured reasons to show three female nudes.

Paris the son of Priam has to judge the beauty of the three goddesses: Hera Aphrodite Athena. This led at the end to the Trojan War. But for the most artists an their buyers it was the real men's fantasy: one man made his choice, and the goddesses are posing.

There are a lot of these paintings. The most painters from Renaissance to the late 19th century did at least one. We will start with two:



The first is by Adriaen van der Werff (1659-1722) a Dutch Baroque Era Painter. Its interesting because its at the border between Baroque, Classizism and Rococo.



The second is a very late example and is by the Austrian painter Ivo Saliger (1894-1987). He was one of the most successful artists in the Third Reich and its easy to recognize the young Nazi-Leader in Paris. The goddesses are the typical KdF-women.
Nude-Art goes Propaganda!!