The Story of Oenone and Paris (center panel) Gm-21738501

Francesco di Giorgio Martini (Italian (Sienese), 1439–1501) This panel features several stories from the turbulent life of the Trojan prince, Paris. The prince's first wife, the nymph Oenone, appears at center, wearing a flowing brocaded gown and carrying a bow. Blessed with the gift of prophecy, Oenone foretold to Paris the dire consequences of his pursuit of the beautiful Spartan queen, Helen. The left-hand side of the panel shows the Judgment of Paris. Here, a reclining Paris hands a golden apple to Venus--one of three bare-breasted goddesses--in exchange for access to Helen. Oenone reappears on the right-hand side, imploring Paris, already mounted on a white horse, not to abandon her. In the distance, Paris, alone on horseback, gallops toward the turreted red walls of a city, possibly Troy, and his fateful future.

Two smaller panels containing full-length figures of Paris and Oenone dressed in armor originally flanked this central panel. These panels comprised part of a cassone, or wedding chest. In the fashion of his native Siena, a center of cassoni production, Francesco di Giorgio Martini decorated many such chests with elaborate mythological tales.