The Judgment of Paris (1602): Art, History and Details

The Judgment of Paris (1602) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Joachim Anthoniz Wtewael (Dutch, 1566–1638).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

The Trojan prince Paris was asked to determine which goddess was the most beautiful. Hera (tothe left of the group) offered him political power, and Athena (seen from the back), military prowess, but Paris awarded the golden apple to Venus, the goddess of love, who promised him Helen, the most beautiful mortal in the world.

Object facts

• Title: The Judgment of Paris
• Date: 1602
• Creator attribution: Joachim Anthoniz Wtewael (Dutch, 1566–1638)
• Culture: Netherlands
• Type: Painting
• Technique: oil on copper
• Dimensions: Framed: 25.5 x 30.5 x 3 cm (10 1/16 x 12 x 1 3/16 in.); Unframed: 15.4 x 20.5 cm (6 1/16 x 8 1/16 in.)
• Collection: P - Netherlandish-Dutch
• Department: European Painting and Sculpture
• Accession number: 1984.14

A detail from the museum

The artist dated and signed this work on a rock at the bottom right of the painting.

Collection credit

Mr. and Mrs. William H. Marlatt Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• Lowenthal, Anne W. Joachim Wtewael and Dutch Mannerism. Doornspijk, The Netherlands: Davaco, 1986.
• Turner, Evan H. "The Year in Review for 1984." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 72, no. 2 (1985): 163-207.
• "1993 Annual Report." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 81, no. 6 (1994): 143-218.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.