01 Work, Interpretations of Olympian deities, Jacob de Backer's Paris Being Admitted to the Bedchamber of Helen, with footnotes #38

Jacob de Backer (Flemish, active 1545–1600)

Detail; Paris Being Admitted to the Bedchamber of Helen, c. about 1585/1590

Oil on canvas

119.4 × 171.5 cm (47 × 67 1/2 in.)

J. Paul Getty Museum

Paris is a mythological figure in the story of the Trojan War. He appears in numerous Greek legends and works of Ancient Greek literature such as the Iliad. In myth, he is prince of Troy, son of King Priam and Queen Hecuba, and younger brother of Prince Hector. His elopement with Helen sparks the Trojan War, during which he fatally wounds Achilles. More on Paris

Jacob de Backer (Flemish, active 1545–1600)

Paris Being Admitted to the Bedchamber of Helen, c. about 1585/1590

Oil on canvas

119.4 × 171.5 cm (47 × 67 1/2 in.)

J. Paul Getty Museum

Helen was the daughter of Zeus and Leda, and considered in Greek myth to be the most beautiful woman in the world. She was married to Menelaus, King of Sparta. When the Trojan prince Paris abducted Helen and carried her off to the city of Troy, the Greeks responded by mounting an attack on the city, thus beginning the Trojan War. Agamemnon, king of Mycenae and the brother of Menelaus, led an expedition of Greek troops to Troy and besieged the city for ten years because of Paris's insult. After the deaths of many heroes, including the Greeks Achilles and Ajax, and the Trojans Hector and Paris, the city fell to the ruse of the Trojan Horse. The Greeks slaughtered the Trojans and desecrated the temples More on Helen

Jacob de Backer (c. 1555 – c. 1591) was a Flemish Mannerist painter and draughtsman active in Antwerp between about 1571 and 1585. Even though he died young at the age of 30, the artist was very prolific and an extensive body of work has been attributed to him. Art historians are not agreed on how many of these works are autograph or the product of a workshop. The works attributed to the artist or his workshop are executed in a late-Mannerist style clearly influenced by Italian models. More on Jacob de Backer

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