The Loves of Paris and Helen [SEP] creator
The Loves of Paris and Helen
The Loves of Paris and Helen is a 1788 painting by Jacques-Louis David, showing Helen of Troy and Paris from Homer's "Iliad". It is now in the Louvre Museum.
It was the result of a commission from the comte d'Artois. It shows David in his 'galante' phase and was interpreted as a satire on the manners of the comte d'Artois. The caryatids in the background are copies of those by Jean Goujon in the Louvre.
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integral part of the argument that Sappho makes that the most beautiful is the one that one loves: the apparent contradiction between Helen being the most beautiful, and Helen finding Paris the most beautiful, can be resolved if we agree with Sappho's definition of beauty.
After setting out Sappho's definition of what beauty is, the poem moves into a more personal section, recalling the narrator's beloved, Anactoria. The transition from the mythological example of Helen and Paris to the narrator's desire for Anactoria is missing, so