Bertolami Fine Art - Piazza Lovatelli 1, 00186 Roma
ASTA 267 - GLITTICA ASTA 267 - GLITTICA
Friday 7 July 2023 hours 12:30 (UTC +00:00)
A FINE RENAISSANCE AGATE CAMEO SET IN A FRAME. THE JUDGMENT OF PARIS.
A FINE RENAISSANCE AGATE CAMEO SET IN A FRAME. THE JUDGMENT OF PARIS.
16th century
Total diam 69 mm
Zeus prepared a banquet for the celebration of the marriage of Peleus and Thetis, future parents of Achilles. Eris, the goddess of discord, was not invited and, angered by this outrage, went to the banquet place and threw a golden apple with the inscription "to the fairest".
The three goddesses who claimed it, unleashing furious quarrels, were Hera, Athena and Aphrodite. They spoke to Zeus to convince him to choose the most beautiful among them, but the father of the gods, not knowing who to deliver her to, established that deciding who was the most beautiful could only be the most beautiful of mortals, Paris, an unwitting prince of Troy, who was favored by the god Ares. Hermes was commissioned to bring the three goddesses to the young Trojan, who still lived among the shepherds and grazed the sheep, and each of them promised him a reward in exchange for the apple: Athena would make him wise and unbeatable in war, allowing him to overcome every warrior; Hera promised wealth and immense power, so much so that entire peoples would have submitted to her gesture, and so much glory that her name would have echoed up to the stars; Aphrodite would have granted him the love of the most beautiful woman in the world.
Paris favored the latter, unleashing the wrath of the other two. The goddess of love then helped Paris to kidnap Helen, wife of Menelaus, king of Sparta, and the fact was the trigger of the Trojan War. In this fine and large agate cameo, on the left: Paris is seated on a rock, next to him is Hermes with his typical attributes. The young man gives the apple to Aphrodite flanked by Eros; next to her Athena and Hera. Below, a river deity and a dog drinking in the river. Above, Zeus with his eagle above the clouds, symbolizing Olympus. The cameo has superficial fissures and small internal cracks. The stone is solid and firmly inside the metal frame. With box from an old collection.
Provenance: U.K. private collection acquired on the art market.