Artwork
The Judgement of Paris
The Judgement of Paris is an oil painting by the Realist artist Anselm Feuerbach. It dates from 1869 and is held in the collection of the Hamburger Kunsthalle.
About this work
Overview
Anselm Feuerbach’s 1869 oil painting, *The Judgement of Paris*, presents a mythological tableau drawn from classical antiquity. Executed in the late nineteenth‑century German neoclassical tradition, the work situates the legendary episode of Paris’s choice among the goddesses within a tranquil, natural landscape, emphasizing calm over drama.
Subject & Meaning
The composition centers on the Trojan prince Paris, seated upon a rock and holding the golden apple that will decide the most beautiful goddess. Before him stand Hera, Athena and Aphrodite, each attired in classical dress—one in a vivid red robe, another in a white tunic—engaged in a poised yet persuasive exchange that reflects the myth’s themes of desire and judgment.
Technique & Style
Feuerbach employs a smooth, academic handling of oil paint, characteristic of his neoclassical approach, while integrating Realist attention to natural detail. The figures are rendered with idealized anatomy and clear contours, set against a softly rendered backdrop of trees and a calm body of water that enhances the painting’s serene atmosphere.
History & Provenance
Created during the height of Feuerbach’s career, the canvas was exhibited in Germany shortly after its completion and entered a private collection before being acquired by a public institution in the early twentieth century. Its provenance traces a typical path for academic works of the period, moving from salon display to museum holdings.
Context
The painting reflects the nineteenth‑century revival of classical subjects, aligning with contemporary interest in antiquity and moral allegory. By portraying the Judgement of Paris within a composed, contemplative setting, Feuerbach engages the viewer in a dialogue between mythic narrative and the era’s aesthetic ideals of balance and restraint.
Artist & collection
Artist
Anselm Feuerbach (12 September 1829 – 4 January 1880) was a German painter. He was the leading neoclassical painter of the German 19th-century school.
