Audio Not Available

The Judgment of Paris

Dateca. 1516-18

Maker Lucas Cranach the Elder German, Wittenberg, 1472 - 1553

Label TextCranach treats this famous beauty contest as a deadpan comedy. Unable to rouse the attention of Paris, who is being shaken awake by Mercury, the three nude goddesses draw our gaze instead with their sleek bodies and coy self-confidence. The richly detailed armor, metallic leaves and stylized clouds are characteristic of Cranach's brand of mannerism, which appealed to his patrons of the Saxon court.

Cranach treats this famous beauty contest as a deadpan comedy. Unable to rouse the attention of Paris, who is being shaken awake by Mercury, the three nude goddesses draw our gaze instead with their sleek bodies and coy self-confidence. The richly detailed armor, metallic leaves and stylized clouds are characteristic of Cranach's brand of mannerism, which appealed to his patrons of the Saxon court.

Object number52.38

ProvenanceKroger Collection, Hamburg, Germany; Baron von Schenck Collection, Flechtingen Castle near Magdeburg, Germany, by 1910; John Ringling (1866-1936), Sarasota, Florida, by 1931; sold, via [Julius Böhler, Munich, Germany] to [Kunsthandel AG Luzern, Lucerne, Switzerland] and [Paul Cassirer, Berlin, Germany] (jointly owned), 1932; {possibly sold to Georg Tillmann (1882-1941), Amsterdam, the Netherlands, 1933 until ca. 1938-39} [1]; {Firma D. Katz, Dieren, the Netherlands} [2]; sold to LeRoy M. Backus (1879-1948), New York and Seattle, by 1939; Estate of LeRoy M. Backus, 1948-1952; bequeathed to Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, Washington, 1952 [1] “Tillmann, Amsterdam” listed as ex-collection in Schaeffer Galleries Bulletin, no. 6 (November 1948): cat. no. 1, reproduced. Ex-collection “Tillmann, Amsterdam” reproduced again in 1952 catalogue published by the Seattle Art Museum, The LeRoy M. Backus Memorial Collection; cat. no. 2. [2] Schaeffer Galleries records, ca. 1921-1982, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, contains correspondence between LeRoy M. Backus, Pacific Coast Director of the Schaeffer Galleries, New York, and the Firm of D. Katz, Holland, confirming the purchase of the painting and awaiting formal Bill of Sale.

Photo CreditPhoto: Susan Cole

He was endowed with a sense of <i>chic</i> which would make him the patron saint of all fashion designers.

Sir Kenneth Clark, <i>The Nude</i> (1956)

Exhibition History{Possibly Springfield, Massachusetts, Springfield Museum of Fine Arts, Jan. 1939 [listed on SAM accession card, but Springfield's records show exhibitions of photography, modern German art, and photography in 1939; no record of Old Masters exhibition].} New York, New York, Schaeffer Gallery, The Backus Collection at the Schaeffer Galleries, Nov. 1948. Cat. no. 1, reproduced. Seattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, Le Roy M. Backus Memorial Collection, 1952. Osaka, Japan, Expo Museum of Fine Arts, 1970. Seattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, Medieval, Renaissance & Baroque Galleries, Dec. 24, 1998 - Dec. 24, 1999.Published ReferencesFlechsig, Eduard. "Cranachstudien," Erster Teil. Leipzig: Karl W. Hiersemann, 1900, p. 271 (http://archive.org/details/cranachstudien01flecuoft) Ameseder, Rudolf. "Ein Parisurteil Lukas Cranachs d. A. in der Landesgalerie zu Graz," in Repertorium fur Kunstwissenschaft, XXXIII Band. Berlin: Druck und verlag von Georg Reimer, 1910 (reprinted Berlin: Walter de Gruyter & Co., 1968), pp. 68-70 Friedlaender, Max J. and Rosenberg, J. "Die Gemaelde von Lucas Cranach." Berlin: Deutscher Verein fur Kunstwissenschaft, 1932 (reprinted in English Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1978, no. 118, illus.), p. 49, no. 99, pl. 99 Deusch, Werner R. "German Painting of the 16th Century: Durer and His Contemporaries." London: A. Zwemmer, 1936, p. 27, no. 57 [in German: Winkler-Deusch, "Deutsch Malerei des 16. Jahrhunderts"] Seattle Art Museum. "Le Roy M. Backus Memorial Collection." Seattle: Seattle Art Museum, 1952, no. 2, illus. Seattle Art Museum. "Annual Report, 1952." Seattle: Seattle Art Museum, 1952, p. 11, illus. fig. 19 Miller, Henry in ARGUS, June 20, 1969, p. 6, illus. Expo Museum of Fine Arts. "The March Toward Freedom", Volume IV. Osaka: Expo Museum of Fine Arts, 1970, pp. 216-217, illus. p. 216 Nickel, Helmut. "The Judgment of Paris by Lucas Cranach the Elder: Nature, Allegory, and Alchemy," in The Metropolitan Museum Journal 16. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1982, p. 124, fig. 10 Stewart, Stanley. "Spenser and the Judgement of Paris" in Spenser Studies. AMS Press, 1989-1990 Ishikawa, Chiyo et al. "Selected Works." Seattle: Seattle Art Museum, 1991, p. 88 Ishikawa, Chiyo. "The Samuel H. Kress Collection at the Seattle Art Museum" Seattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, 1997, fig. 4, p. 18 Kodansha. Weekly World Travel, No. 94, 2000, p. 16

Credit LineLeRoy M. Backus Collection

Dimensions25 x 16 1/2 in. (63.5 x 41.9 cm)

MediumOil on wood