ParisJudgment1.0311

Romare Bearden (1918-1988), "Prologue to Troy No. 2" (1972), handcolored etching, after Lucas Cranach's "Judgment of Paris" (1508 and later versions). ACA Galleries, New York, in 1991.

image at right derived from
Bearden, Romare Howard (American painter and printmaker, 1911-1988). Prologue to Troy. 1974. Artstor, library.artstor.org/asset/ABEARDENIG_10313651143

Bearden in a letter to Mary Schmidt Campbell, 22 Sept 1973: "I transposed Cranach to a black circumstance. The Prince — who sits in judgement is black. The Goddesses are also. All is brought to a flat plane, eliminating the depth perspective in the admittedly great work of Cranach. Paris is, indeed, not so much in judgement — as in a position of acceptance. My Paris doesn't need a stud horse in the background to point up the erotic elements. I wanted a calm, classic grandeur." (cited in Campbell and Patton, p. 62)