The Judgement of Paris
Group
ca. 1803 (made)
ca. 1803 (made)
Artist/Maker | |
Place of origin |
In this story from classical mythology Paris must judge which of the three goddesses was the most beautiful - Venus, Juno or Minerva. The complex composition of this group allowed the sculptor to display the female nude from different angles and suggests multiple viewpoints. Nollekens also executed separate lifesize marble figures of the three goddesses shown here, which are now housed in the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles. This terracotta appeared in the sale of Nollekens' studio effects held on 4 July, 1823, where it was sold for £2 10s.
Nollekens was a prolific sculptor of portrait busts and operated a thriving workshop in London. He spent eight years in Rome from 1762 to 1770, where he worked with Bartolomeo Cavaceppi restoring and copying antique marbles. One of these copies, his group of Castor and Pollux, is in the Museum's collection (Museum no. A.59-1940). He probably perfected his modelling of clay while he was in Rome and started to experiment in making small figures or groups. These occasionally became models for large-scale finished marbles, but many, like this one, still in his studio at his death, were simply studies in their own right, which he called pensieri (thoughts).
Nollekens was a prolific sculptor of portrait busts and operated a thriving workshop in London. He spent eight years in Rome from 1762 to 1770, where he worked with Bartolomeo Cavaceppi restoring and copying antique marbles. One of these copies, his group of Castor and Pollux, is in the Museum's collection (Museum no. A.59-1940). He probably perfected his modelling of clay while he was in Rome and started to experiment in making small figures or groups. These occasionally became models for large-scale finished marbles, but many, like this one, still in his studio at his death, were simply studies in their own right, which he called pensieri (thoughts).
Object details
Categories | |
Object type | |
Title | The Judgement of Paris (generic title) |
Materials and techniques | terracotta |
Brief description | Group, sketch model, terracotta, The Judgement of Paris, by Joseph Nollekens, English, ca. 1803 |
Dimensions |
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Gallery label | 4 and 5. Joseph Nollekens 1737–1823
Venus Standing on a Shell and The Judgement of Paris
About 1800, about 1803
Nollekens was a virtuoso modeller of clay. After his death, his small terracotta study of Venus was bought by another sculptor, Peter Rouw. The other figure group shows the Judgement of Paris, in which the Trojan hero Paris had to decide which of the three goddesses was the most beautiful. Nollekens also made a separate life-size marble figure of each of the goddesses.
London
Terracotta
Museum no. A.9-1944. Given by Miss Zoë Gordon Smith
Museum no. A.21-1955. Given by Reginald H. Pott |
Credit line | Given by Reginald H. Pott |
Object history | Sold on the second day of Christie's sale of Nollekens's studio effects, held on 4 July 1823, lot 36, and purchased by Nevill for £2 10s. On loan from Mrs. R.M. Pott, from 21 July 1939. Given by Reginald H. Pott in 1955. In 1944 Mrs Pott also gave to the Museum a series of five models for hands, perhaps by Roubiliac, which had formerly been in the possession of her father, the Victorian painter and sculptor Edward Henry Corbould; It is possible therefore that the present piece also formed part of his collection. |
Subjects depicted | |
Summary | In this story from classical mythology Paris must judge which of the three goddesses was the most beautiful - Venus, Juno or Minerva. The complex composition of this group allowed the sculptor to display the female nude from different angles and suggests multiple viewpoints. Nollekens also executed separate lifesize marble figures of the three goddesses shown here, which are now housed in the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles. This terracotta appeared in the sale of Nollekens' studio effects held on 4 July, 1823, where it was sold for £2 10s. Nollekens was a prolific sculptor of portrait busts and operated a thriving workshop in London. He spent eight years in Rome from 1762 to 1770, where he worked with Bartolomeo Cavaceppi restoring and copying antique marbles. One of these copies, his group of Castor and Pollux, is in the Museum's collection (Museum no. A.59-1940). He probably perfected his modelling of clay while he was in Rome and started to experiment in making small figures or groups. These occasionally became models for large-scale finished marbles, but many, like this one, still in his studio at his death, were simply studies in their own right, which he called pensieri (thoughts). |
Bibliographic references |
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Collection | |
Accession number | A.21-1955 |
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Record created | August 14, 2006 |
Record URL |
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