The Judgment of Paris

Paris, the shepherd prince of Troy, must give a golden apple to the most beautiful of three goddesses, and Watteau lets us watch the winner from behind. Venus stands with her back to us, lifting away her veil as Cupid helps, while Paris, crook at his side and dog at his feet, holds out the apple with Mercury close beside him. At the edge, Minerva's shield shows its snake-haired Gorgon head. Watteau painted few nudes, and this small panel dates from about 1718 to 1721, the last years of his life. It has not always carried his name. In 1856 the opera singer Paul Baroilhet put it up for sale as a work by Jean-Baptiste Pater, Watteau's former pupil, and it found no buyer. It entered the Louvre in 1869 with the bequest of the collector Louis La Caze.