Portrait Of Feet, Representing Athena And Ares Debating The Fate Of Troy. 17th Century.

Portrait of feet, representing Athena and Ares debating the fate of Troy. Athena, the goddess of high thought, wisdom, intelligence is here represented with her attributes; the aegis, the lance, the helmet and the branch. Ares, the god of warriors, youth and violence, is represented with his helmet and spear. Athena holds in her left hand the golden apple of discord that Ares wants to steal from her. The golden apple or the apple of discord is the symbol of the Trojan War, whoever holds it, will be the victor. Oil on canvas from the 17th century on its original frame. It should be noted that the canvas has been cleaned and the presence of light repainting. The chassis is also divergent. Dimensions: Height 82.6cm, Width 57.6cm. In legendary tales, war was born from a golden apple, on which were inscribed these words: "to the most beautiful", and which was thrown by Eris, goddess of Discord, in the middle of a divine banquet, where we celebrated the union of Pelée, king of the Myrmidons, with Thetis, one of the Nereids. The apple, intended for the most beautiful of the goddesses, immediately became the object of all desires. Fearing to anger those he would oust, Zeus preferred to entrust the choice of the most beautiful to the innocent hand of a mortal. Paris, son of Priam, king of Troy, was chosen for this role, and he without hesitation handed the apple to Aphrodite goddess of Love, ignoring her rivals Athena and Hera. In exchange for this homage, Aphrodite assured Paris her protection and promised him the love of the most beautiful of mortals, Hélène. This was the wife of the king of Sparta Menelaus, but she let herself be kidnapped without resistance by Paris, who led her to Troy. Outraged Menelaus summoned all the Greek kings to take back Helena and wash away the affront. This is how the war between the Greeks and the Trojans began.