The work shows Paris, son of Priam, King of Troy, and his first love, the nymph Oenone. In accordance with tradition they are depicted dallying in the shade of a tree on which he has carved her name. She, in turn, is about to reward his efforts with a crown of flowers. Their romantic sojourn was, however, short-lived, for Paris, when judging the beauty contest between the goddesses Juno, Minerva and Venus, succumbed to Venus’s bribe of the love of the most beautiful woman in the world. He accordingly awarded Venus the prize of the golden apple, which can be seen in the foreground of this painting’s pendant (P181), and deserted Oenone for the Spartan Queen Helen. The two pictures’ landscape backgrounds are perhaps intended to appear continuous when hung next to each other.