| Artist | Enrique Simonet |
|---|---|
| Year | 1904 |
| Type | Oil on canvas |
| Dimensions | 215 cm × 331 cm (85 in × 130 in) |
| Location | Museo de Malaga |
El Juicio de Paris (The Judgment of Paris in English) is an oil-on-canvas painting[1] of the Greek myth, the Judgment of Paris. It was executed in 1904 by Enrique Simonet Lombardo, a Spanish painter, and is one of the many works depicting the scene. The composition is 215 cm. tall and 331 cm. wide. It is currently owned by heirs of Simonet, and is in the Museo de Málaga.[1]
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The wedding of the mortal Peleus and the nereid Thetis was approaching, and Zeus invited all the gods and goddesses to the party, except Eris, the goddess of Discord, as she would, without doubt, cause great mayhem. She was annoyed at this insult, so she decided to crash the party. She did this by throwing a golden apple, inscribed with the word "καλλίστῃ" ("to the fairest"), into a crowd of goddesses. Athena, Hera, and Aphrodite claimed the apple for themselves, so they started a bitter quarrel. Zeus finally intervened and instructed Hermes to take the goddesses to the Trojan prince, Paris, to judge, for he had demonstrated his exemplary fairness previously. The three candidates bathed in the spring of Mount Ida, where Troy was situated, then presented themselves before Paris. Paris requested to see them naked, so they undressed and he inspected each individually. He had trouble deciding, as all three were ideally beautiful, so they resorted to bribes. Hera offered control over all Europe and Asia, and Athena offered wisdom and skill in battle, but Aphrodite offered the most beautiful woman in the world, Helen of Sparta. Paris immediately awarded the apple to Aphrodite. He then abducted Helen, who was already married (a fact that Aphrodite neglected to mention). This angered Menelaus, Helen's husband, who led a fleet to retrieve her, which consequently started the Trojan War.
The composition depicts five humans along with thirteen goats and one peacock. The artist shows his expertise in light and shadow treatment in the filtering of the vegetation and the texture of light on the bodies and faces.[1]
Athena is the leftmost figure. She has straight black hair held by a gold snood and her facial expression is serious and unsmiling. She is wearing nothing but a gold necklace with silver pendants, gold bracelets, and white sandals. The goddess is also holding her gold-embroidered robe in front of her body, shielding her vulva, but not her breasts, a position similar to Venus in Botticelli's The Birth of Venus, except hair is replaced by drapery (see figure).
Hera is the second figure from the left. She has curly brown hair and is wearing a jeweled gold crown, symbolizing her divine rule. She is looking at Aphrodite, almost admiringly. Her face is slightly older than the other two. She is wearing a gold-embroidered dress (much like Athena's) that reaches the ground, and exposes her cleavage. She is the only clothed goddess. She rests a hand on Athena's shoulder in a comforting way. She is identified by the peacock beside her, one of her symbols.
Aphrodite is the cynosure of the composition. She is shown in the center of the composition, flaunting her sexuality by openly presenting her naked body to the judge and the viewer. She is in a contrapposto pose, with her arms spread aside, making no action to cover herself, allowing Paris to see her breasts and vulva and appreciate the full beauty of her nude body. The fact that her dress is laid on the ground beside her suggests that she undressed in front of Paris, which adds to the erotica of the painting. Her brown hair is tied up, and around her head is a golden halo. Her long-lashed eyelids are closed, and her expression is serene, unembarrassed despite her nudity. Her naked body is slightly more vibrant than the others'. Her hips and thighs are wide and voluptuous. The peacock's plume serves as a background to the vibrance of her body, which contrasts to the dark green of the peacock and bushes.[1] Eros, who is beside her, depicted as a young boy with curly blond hair, holds her drapery.
Paris is shown to be a tanned, muscular young man wearing a loincloth made of what appears to be leopard skin. He has curly black hair and is wearing a laurel. He is sitting on a tree root, surveying Aphrodite, with his left hand supporting his chin in a calculative manner. His other hand is holding the golden apple and resting on the back of a goat, who is also looking at the naked goddess. His skin in noticeably darker than the goddess', which offers color contrast to the composition.
The middleground of the composition is composed of a tree (or, more significantly, the leaves and branches of a tree), a bush sprouting pink flowers, and, less visibly, another, lighter-colored bush. The peacock's plume can also be considered part of the middleground, as it serves as a contrasting background for Aphrodite's body.
The background consists of a small space of the composition, right above Paris. It shows a cluster of goats on stretch of ground with patches of grass. Further back is a sandy beach and the Aegean Sea (on account of Mount Ida being situated next to said sea), along with a clear blue sky.
Most classical depictions portray all three goddesses nude, although in El Juicio de Paris, only Aphrodite and Athena are shown undressed, with the latter holding her drapery to cover herself somewhat. This may be because the version of the myth the painting is based on says that Hera had (common to most, if not all sources) been surveyed by Paris first, and had already dressed. Athena was inspected second, so she had not dressed yet, anxious about the outcome, and Aphrodite is still being surveyed. This suggests that either Paris was the one who requested that the goddesses undress,[2] or the version where the goddesses themselves choose to take off their clothes as a last resort to winning. Also, the fact that there are three sets of drapery (one for each goddess) goes against the depiction in The Golden Ass by Apuleius, where only Aphrodite presents herself naked without being dressed initially. Or, Hera was simply meant to be the only clothed goddess, which, either way, combined with Athena's modesty, emphasizes Aphrodite's nudity and beauty.
Aphrodite, in most other depictions of the event, tries to cover her genitalia somehow (e.g. with a cloth garment), thus retaining some amount of modesty. In this work, she openly presents her body to be seen, including her naked vulva.