Dimensions: 88 × 74 cm
purchase, 1946
Inv. no. MP 263 MNW
Adoption period: 1 year
Biography
At the end of his studies in Paris, Antoni Brodowski painted a picture, depicting the Trojan prince Paris. The young man is wearing a Phrygian cap on his head, which became one of the symbols of the French Revolution in the late 18th century. This headgear, as well as the lyre held by Paris, are among his traditional attributes. The story of Paris was described by Homer in the Iliad. The prince, at the command of Zeus, settled a dispute between three goddesses: Hera, Athena and Aphrodite, declaring the latter to be the most beautiful of the three. Aphrodite rewarded Paris with the love of the beautiful Helen, wife of Sparta's King Menelaus. The kidnapping of the Spartan queen triggered a war that led to the devastation of Troy.
The depiction by Brodowski's brush is part of the traditional iconography of the Greek hero. The work belongs to the Classical trend and depends more on French painting contemporary to the artist than on ancient models. The painting is a display of Brodovsky's workshop skills. It is a study of the anatomy of the human body dressed in antique costume, characterized by precision of drawing, harmony of color and naturalness of chiaroscuro. In accordance with the requirements of academic art, the painter aimed to smooth out forms and achieve a perfectly smooth, shiny painting surface. How skillfully Brodowski used the artistic formula of French academism is evidenced by the fact that Parys in a Phrygian cap was formerly regarded as the work of Jacques-Louis David himself.
Antoni Brodowski began his artistic education quite late - thanks to a scholarship from the House of Public Education, he went to Paris to study and in 1811 was admitted to the studio of François Gérard, a prominent portraitist and a pupil of Jacques-Louis David.
