Claude Lorrain was born in the town Chamagne within the duchy of Lorraine (NGA.gov). Lorrain painted The Judgment of Paris in oil circa 1645-1646. It was initially painted in Rome and then given to the French ambassador Francois de Val (commons.marymount.edu). The area he was born in was a victim of the hostility that occurred during the Thirty Years War. The harsh political environment may have been what spurred his leaving the territory. He trained as a baker, but left that as well, later finding a position where he could study landscape artistry under Goffredo Wals (Artble.com). The political tensions of the war contributed to the moving around in his life, and perhaps indirectly led to his career. I wonder if the tension-wrought scene on display here is fueled by his own experiences due to wartime. The entirety of Lorrain’s work exudes his careful examination of light. He depicted a lot of landscapes, drawing from naturalism and the impact of light (Artble.com). While this piece does not immediately impart the theatrical drama characteristic of the Baroque period, it embodies the period and style through its deliberate light placement. I love the broken pools of light displayed in this painting. The way the light and shadow interrupt each other across the land displayed is so specific and life-like. Light plays a significant role in giving depth to the painting. It combines with diagonals to pull the viewer into the piece. For example, the rock features in the foreground form two slants inward. Shadows caused by clouds and natural landscape features cause uneven areas of shadow and light. The natural landscape influences light and shadow and portrays diagonals. These factors combine to draw someone to the painting.
Three more characteristics of Baroque art present are interrupted contours, diagonals, and captured moments. The rightmost figure has a very Baroque pose. She is depicted leaning forward, her hands near her feet. Of the darker contrasts used to depict her, her arm interrupts the darkest ones. Her arm is a tilt that intersects the one created by her raised leg. Another detail significant to the style is the unfinished movement she poses. Everyone on display represents a moment in time. Their poses imply they are going to continue moving. The woman in orange and blue has a hand raised. Her pose pairs with the expression on her face, making it clear to the viewer she is speaking. The painting catches her between words. Her clothes themselves fold and ripple. Lorrain’s use of tone merges with how he portrays contrasts to make her clothing look high quality and fluid. It reminds me of the silk and other fabrics my old art teacher helped me acquire for my costume for Tullia Minor. Recalling when I dressed as her for a competition, I know clothing like that shifts and whispers. I remember the feel of the clothing when I look at how her clothes are so well detailed. This woman’s arm draws a sloping line that continues in the darkest shadows of her clothes. That diagonal intersects with another created by the other end of her clothing. The arms of the nude woman to the left of her create diagonals parallel to each other. Her right hand holds a piece of fabric that juts in a slant over her left arm.
One area of difficulty for me is interpreting the source of the myths in this painting. The judgment Paris makes leads to the Trojan war, a war that both Ancient Greece and Rome pride themselves on tracing their roots back to. That’s why the Classical literature The Iliad, The Odyssey, and The Aeneid are so crucial. After further examination, I think interpreting the figures as Roman deities makes sense given the way they are portrayed. The Greek god Eros is typically depicted as a beautiful young man; however, when he was being satirized he was depicted as a child. There is a tendency to display him as a blindfolded child (Encyclopedia.com). My opinion on this is that this was another way of emphasizing an aspect of love. There is a youth and vitality that accompanies love, so portraying a god of love as a child doesn’t surprise me. However, I know it was far more common to display the Roman counterpart, Cupid, as a winged child than Eros. Another detail that makes me believe this is Roman portrayals over Greek is Cupid accompanying Venus. What is so wonderful about myth is that it is hard to place and define at times; there are so many different versions with major changes or subtle ones. In older myths, Eros is described as being a primordial entity, present before the gods. He was there with Chaos and Gaea (Encyclopedia.com). Later myths present him as a son of Aphrodite whereas Cupid does not have that primordial association. I cannot be certain that this was Lorrain’s intent, but this is my interpretation. Given what I know of the Hellenistic mythos, I am interpreting the figures portrayed alongside Paris as Cupid, Venus, Juno, and Minerva.
Following that Cupid and Venus are in this makes it easy to identify the other two figures. Juno is the Roman counterpart to Hera. They are associated with peacocks and marriage. Minerva also makes sense in the context of the story portrayed here. Alongside her is a spear, further identifying her because she is associated with war. Another important association here in general is war and conflict. Minerva is associated with strategy in war. Cupid and Venus are associated with love in war (Guerber). Cupid and Venus are cited before many conflicts in myths I’ve read because they directly or indirectly cause them. Love can unite, but it can also destroy. It can be irrational and cause conflict through that. Additionally, Juno has her own hand in conflict as the queen of the gods. In The Aeneid for example, she incites the Aeolus, a lesser god, and King of the winds to bring a quick end to Aeneas’s ships. While he does survive, there is a violent description of the trouble the winds cause for him, and one of his men’s deaths is described by Virgil (Virgil, lines 102-130). Context and symbolism described, we can complete this painting with the actual event on display. The man in the piece is Paris, the poor shepherd chosen to answer a dangerous question. The viewer can gather he is a shepherd from the sheep grazing in the shadow and light. Paris is being asked which of these goddesses is the most beautiful. In the myth, each goddess offers him something to try to convince him to pick her instead. It is the promise of Helen of Troy, the most beautiful woman, by Venus or Aphrodite that tempts him. On display is the beginning of the Trojan War. Because the married Helen becoming Paris’s reward ultimately leads to the war. There is a beautiful irony to the dangerous question and its later events being shown surrounded by such a gorgeous landscape. It is a peace that will not last.
Bibliography
Artble. 2022. Claude Lorrain Style and Technique, Artble.com, https://www.artble.com/artists/claude_lorrain/more_information/style_and_technique.
Encyclopedia.com. 2022. Eros, https://www.encyclopedia.com/philosophy-and-religion/ancient-religions/ancient-religion/eros.
Feigenbaum, G., 2022. Artist Info, Nga.gov., https://www.nga.gov/collection/artist-info.1145.html.
Guerber, H., 2018. Classical Mythology. Fall River Press, p.(43-109).
Kitson, M. (no date) Claude Lorrain, Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica, inc., https://www.britannica.com/biography/Claude-Lorrain.
Trang, C., 2022. The Ideal Classical Landscape in Lorrain’s The Judgment of Paris | Magnificat, Commons.marymount.edu., https://commons.marymount.edu/magnificat/the-ideal-classical-landscape-in-lorrains-the-judgment-of-paris/.
Virgil and Mandelbaum, A., 2003. The Aeneid of Virgil. New York, New York: Bantam Dell.
Comments
Post a Comment