Antonio Canova's Paris

Amidst all of the Academy of Arts' plaster casts after works from Greek and Roman Antiquity, we suddenly find a significantly newer work: Antonio Canova's Paris.

The art academy's students would study and draw from the ancient sculptures as part of their schooling. But the ultimate goal was, of course, that those who trained artists would create their own works that were connected to the tradition, but which were still somehow new.

Creating contemporary art on the basis of Antiquity was particularly relevant for the sculptors, who had this whole mighty range of older plasters to deal with. It was therefore also important that the students at the Art Academy got to see works by artists who succeeded in doing this. In Sweden, Johan Tobias Sergel was the prime example of such a sculptor. He was also a professor at the Academy from 1779, and several of his works are owned by the Academy of Arts.

The Italian Canova achieved even greater international fame. His depiction of the shepherd Paris exists in two copies in marble from 1807-1816. The plaster of the Academy of Arts is probably cast after the sculpture owned by the Bavarian King Ludwig I, who was a great art collector. It was Sergel's student Byström who in 1839 mediated the purchase of Paris, which cost 80 riksdaler banco, and the shipping was also 42 riksdaler and 13 shillings. But it was worth it for a Canova sculpture that would make the Academy's collection even more relevant for students and for art-interested visitors.

According to the myth, Paris was the son of a king but grew up among shepherds - hence the little cap, and the club that was used to keep the wild animals away from the flock. He was tasked with choosing the most beautiful of Greek goddesses and chose Venus, called Aphrodite in Greek mythology. In Canova's sculpture, Paris has not yet made up his mind, but still holds behind his back the apple he is to give as a sign to the winner.

As a reward for his job as a judge, he received the most beautiful woman in the world, the beautiful Helena. One problem, however, was that she was already married to the king of Sparta. The fact that Paris abducted Helena and took her to Troy was the beginning of the great mythical conflict that is depicted in several epic poems such as the Iliad, the Odyssey and the Aeneid.