Judgement of Paris

This long, low panel was never meant to hang on a wall like a picture. Around 1486 it would have been built into the wooden furniture or panelling of a wealthy Florentine home, most likely tied to a marriage, and its stretched shape follows a chest or bench. Botticelli and his workshop painted the old story of Paris, the shepherd prince, choosing the loveliest of three goddesses and handing the golden apple to Venus. What is unusual is that all three goddesses stay fully clothed. In most versions at least one is nude, but here they keep their flowing gowns, spread across the wide field with the same dancing line Botticelli was giving Venus and the Graces in these same Florentine years.