The Judgement of Paris, bronze medallion by Hans Jamnitzer

Bronze.
Nuremberg.
ca. 1560.
d. 13.5 cm.

This bronze medallion, depicting the Judgment of Paris, is a work by Hans Jamnitzer II.

The scene shows on the right Cupid at the feet of Venus, as she is offered the 'apple of discord' by Pâris. He averts his eyes from the two goddesses competing with Venus : Juno, immediately to the left of Pâris, as well as Athena, standing with her warrior attributes — a lance and a helmet. In the distance, behind the foliage, one can see many keels and the high towers of Troy.

Hans Jamnitzer (born 1538) was a sculptor, engraver, goldsmith, and the son of Wenzel Jamnitzer, one of the most renowned German goldsmiths of the Renaissance. After becoming a master goldsmith in 1561, he entered the service of Emperor Ferdinand I and later became attached to the court of the Dukes of Ferrara. For many years, Jamnitzer's works were attributed to a mysterious Meister H. G., named after a monogram found on several pieces of goldsmithing in Nuremberg during the 1560s. It was only in the latter half of the 20th century that these works were correctly attributed to Wenzel Jamnitzer’s son.

This medallion appears to have been part of a series of mythological scenes by Hans Jamnitzer, including a Minos and Scylla now held at the Ashmolean Museum. At least other medallions of the Judgment of Paris are known : one at the Rijksmuseum, one at the Victoria & Albert Museum, and one in the Ciechanowiecki collection.

Sources

Ingrid Weber, Deutsche, niederländische und französische Renaissance Plaketten. 1500-1650, Munich, 1975; Arthur Badach, The Collections of the Ciechanowiecki Foundation. A Complete Catalogue of Sculptures, Warsaw, 2014.