Artwork Page for The Judgment of Paris

Details / Information for The Judgment of Paris

Series Title: The Trojan War

The Judgment of Paris

c. 1545

Jean Mignon

(French, active c. 1535–55)

after Luca Penni

(Italian, 1500/04–1557)
Culture
France, 16th century
Medium
etching
Support
Cream(3) laid paper
Measurements
Sheet: 30.7 x 41.7 cm (12 1/16 x 16 7/16 in.)
Credit Line
John L. Severance Fund 1989.42
Catalogue raisonné
Bartsch 64 (XVI.400)
Public Domain
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Location
Not on view
Print

Description

Printmaking at Fontainebleau flourished briefly during the 1540s and seems to have stopped altogether by 1547. Jean Mignon was one of the four major etchers whose works are most closely associated with the workshop there. Almost all of Mignon's prints reproduce drawings by Luca Penni (1500/4-1557), an Italian painter active at the chateau. Penni's Judgment of Paris derives from Marcantonio's famous engraving after Raphael. Here, jean Mignon's etching shows the shepherd Paris called upon to decide which of three goddesses (Juno, Minerva, or Venus) is the fairest. This mythological beauty contest leads to the Trojan War.
A horizontally oriented etching in black ink depicts three nude women with light skin tones standing before a man seated on our right. He offers a small sphere toward them. Behind him stands a man with a staff, while a winged child stands near the women. On our left, more nude figures recline by a river. Fine cross-hatching shades the scene, and a densely wooded landscape fills the background.

The Judgment of Paris

c. 1545

Jean Mignon, Luca Penni

(French, active c. 1535–55), (Italian, 1500/04–1557)
France, 16th century

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