The Dream of Paris

Faced with choosing the fairest goddess among Minerva, Juno, and Venus, the Trojan prince Paris picked Venus, shown here holding a heart and the golden apple given as a prize in the contest, with her son Cupid frolicking at her feet. Paris wears the garb of a contemporary knight rather than classical dress, a choice that emphasizes the enduring relevance of his moral crossroads as well as, through contrast, the nudity of the goddesses. His sleeping pose and the painting’s inscription, PARIS / TRA(U)M (“dream of Paris,” on the slip of paper attached to the tree), indicate that he is in the midst of a dream vision, a poetic device carried over from medieval allegory and used to foreshadow future events in a narrative. Here, these include the departure of Paris and Helen by boat in the middle distance, the catalyst for the Trojan War.