THE JUDGMENT OF PARIS by Yaroslav Sobol (luxury home decor) (2014) Painting by Yaroslav Sobol

This picture tells about the modern world, which turned away from Love and surrendered to material wealth.

An ancient Greek myth is interpreted in this painting. This myth tells us a story in which the Trojan prince Paris had to choose the most beautiful of the three goddesses, giving her an apple, which, as a prize for the most beautiful of them, was brought to him by the messenger of the gods Hermes. These three goddesses were Hera, Athena and Aphrodite. Each of them offered him their favor. In fact, Hera offered him political power, since she was the wife of Zeus; Athena, as a warrior, offered him military power; and Aphrodite, as the goddess of love, offered him the favor of any woman he will chose. But Aphrodite herself strongly recommended that Paris pay attention to Helen of Troy, who was the daughter of the thunderer Zeus and Leda, and also the wife of Menelaus, the king of Sparta - in ancient Greek mythology - the most beautiful of women. (Subsequently, she was revered in Sparta as a Dorian deity of fertility.) In those days, the ancient Greek hero chose the love of a beautiful woman, even though she was already someone else's wife. And the consequences were very tragic - the Trojan War.

Unlike him, the modern hero made a completely different, completely unexpected, but politically correct choice. He chose Hermes - the god of finance and business. Firstly, he did not deprive his choice of one of the goddesses. Secondly, he chose financial power and independence in the person of the beautiful and cunning Hermes. According to the author, Paris had a simple and logical calculation: with the help of money, he will be able to obtain political power, and military power, and the love of beautiful women. That is, he will be able to get all three elements at once, and not just one. In addition, this choice helped to avoid the Trojan War. Instead, the construction of the tower began - a new financial tower of Babel, against which the main characters are depicted, the center and axis of which they are compositionally. The event is very positive. Perhaps ... In any case, this process of building a new tower turned out to be so exciting that all strata of society, from the simplest people to the political elites and church organizations, joined in with pleasure. Everyone strives to build their financial well-being. This aspiration is symbolized by the arches with different types of vaults from which the walls of the tower are formed.

The composition is constructed in such a way that the viewer's eye gradually passes through all the elements of the composition, focuses on the golden apple in the hands of two men, and then continues to move beyond the picture plane, as if symbolizing the further movement of the main characters.

It would seem that everything is wonderful and nothing can interfere with their pleasant and meaningful walk. However, the viewer's eye suddenly stumbles over some kind of stone, which at the beginning was not even very noticeable. What is this stone? It has the correct shape, which is not typical for this wilderness and desert area. Perhaps this is the exact Keystone that was thrown away by the builders of the new Tower of Babel? A stone that symbolizes eternal values, and on which a new, more just society could be built. A society in which Love would play the most important role, and not the power of money.

It is also worth paying attention to the red color, which spreads around men, and which modifies the previously natural colors of the landscape to others that are not typical of summer time. The clouds almost completely covered the blue sky. There is a disturbing and very tense impression of an approaching thunderstorm. As if something terrible and irreparable is about to happen. There is some kind of red threat.

But the construction of the new tower of Babel is in full swing. And those who would like to feel the power of true Love will have to wait until global trends change, or start looking for this Love within themselves, in their hearts.

This painting was created between 2010 and 2014. At that time, the author did not yet have a sufficient amount of information about contemporary political and other processes. And only now, after more than ten years, it is clear that these were some kind of intuitive feelings and sensations of what was happening around. And they turned out to be correct. Perhaps this picture can even be called prophetic.

Related themes

Ancient GodsAncient Greek MythologyAncient MythBabylon TowerBuisness Decor