Provenance:
Charles-René de Paul de Saint-Marceaux (1845-1915), Paris; thence by descent.
Sotheby's, New York, Antiquities, 9 June 2004, Lot 11.

The world’s first beauty pageant was no ordinary contest between mortals. According to Greek mythology, Paris, the Prince of Troy, was to judge which goddess, Athena, Aphrodite, or Hera was the most beautiful by giving them a golden apple. In Homer’s epic poem the Iliad, this event would later set the stage for the Trojan War. Painted here is the messenger god in stride with three female figures. It is likely this scene depicts Hermes escorting the three goddesses to Mount Ida to bathe in a sacred spring before the contest.

For comparative lekythoi by the Athena Painter, see E. Haspels, Attic Black-figured Lekythoi, Paris, 1936, p. 254, nos. 2-3.