The Judgment of Paris, by G. A. Storey R.A. (1834-1919). 1877. Oil on canvas. 34 x 49 inches (86.4 x 124.5 cm). Collection of Glasgow Museums Resource Centre, accession no. 1351. Image downloaded via Art UK on the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives licence (CC BY-NC-ND).
The Judgment of Paris was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1877, no. 110, accompanied by these lines in the catalogue "To the fairest." According the Greek mythology Eris, the goddess of discord, threw a golden apple labelled "To the Fairest" among the Olympian goddesses during the wedding of Peleus and Thetis. Three goddesses claimed the honour, Aphrodite, Hera, and Athena. Zeus sent his messenger Hermes to lead the goddesses to Paris, Prince of Troy, to have him decide the controversy. Paris chose Aphrodite, a decision that ultimately led to the Trojan War and the fall of Troy. Storey, however, has chosen to portray this as a modern day subject with a young boy, seated in a chair and holding an apple in his right hand, being asked to decide which of the three fashionably dressed young women is "the fairest." His left index finger is raised to his lips as if pondering his difficult decision. The maiden in the white dress is leaning against the apple tree and reaching out her right hand in hope of receiving the apple. The scene takes place within a large garden. A toy horse is seen to the boy's right, likely an intended reference to the famous Trojan horse that led to the downfall of Troy. One wonders what disaster might happen following the boy's choice.
A reviewer for The Architect disliked the draughtsmanship displayed in the figure of the boy: "Mr. Storey has chosen his subjects well in two cases…The Judgment of Paris (110) represents a nonchalant schoolboy deciding the claims of three maidens fair enough to make the choice no easy matter. The disproportionately small head of the child gives the figure a curiously archaic look, and the legs and feet are wooden, without drawing, or modeling, or anatomy" (319). The Art Journal felt Storey's handling of this subject was whimsical: "it is a quaint but well carried out conceit of the same artist to make a little boy, in his garden chair, holding up an apple to three handsome girls, play the classic part of Paris in The Judgment of Paris (110).
The critic for The Spectator felt this work wasn't up to Storey's usual standard in terms of colouration: "No. 110, The Judgment of Paris, by G. A. Storey, A.R.A. Some girls in an orchard, with a precocious boy, perhaps the hope of the family, about to present a fallen apple 'to the fairest.' This painting is hardly so pleasant in colour as usual with this artist, and the humour of the situation seems a little forced; perhaps it has evaporated in the treatment" (598).
Bibliography
"Art. The Royal Academy." The Spectator L (12 May 1877): 597-99.
"Painting at the Royal Academy - I." The Architect XVII (19 May 1877): 318-19.
"The Royal Academy Exhibition." The Art Journal New Series XVI (1877): 185-86.
Created 24 September 2023