The Dream of Paris 1535 - 1547

This engraving, "The Dream of Paris," was made by Georg Pencz around the mid-16th century. We see Paris asleep, dreaming the Judgement, observed by Cupid. He will soon be called upon to judge who is the fairest amongst the goddesses Juno, Venus, and Minerva. The sphere resting on the altar draws our eye. Since antiquity, spheres have symbolized perfection, completeness, and cosmic unity. Here, it is a metaphor for the totality of feminine beauty being presented to Paris for evaluation. We see this symbol echoed through the ages, from ancient Greek notions of ideal forms to Renaissance explorations of mathematical harmony in art. The dreamlike state evokes a journey into the subconscious, where decisions are influenced by deep-seated desires and fears. Pencz taps into the collective psyche, revealing how beauty, judgment, and destiny are intertwined in our cultural memory, continuing to shape our perceptions of beauty, desire, and choice.