19th Century Bust of Paris

Carrara marble classical bust of Paris wearing a Phrygian cap after Antonio Canova (1757–1822). One of the great Neoclassical sculptor Canova's most famous compositions represents Paris judging which of the three goddesses, Juno, Minerva, or Venus, was the most beautiful. Reputedly the most handsome mortal, Paris wears the Phrygian cap characteristic of the region of present-day Turkey, where he lived. His calm pose and serene gaze give no hint of the aftermath of the moment; once he bestowed the golden apple held behind his back upon Venus and received her bribe of Helen, wife of Menelaus, the disastrous Trojan War ensued. Canova carved the first version of this subject for Joséphine de Beauharnais between 1808 and 1812.