The Shepherd Paris (van Dyck) The Shepherd Paris (van Dyck) The Shepherd Paris is a c.1628 painting by the Flemish artist Anthony van Dyck, dating to just after the artist's return from Italy and showing the strong influence of Titian. It shows Paris during the Judgement of Paris, holding the golden apple he has been ordered to give to the most beautiful of three goddesses - unusually the artist focuses on Paris and does not show the goddesses themselves. A painting of Paris recorded as owned by the marquis de Voyer d’Argenson in 1754 is probably to be identified with this work. It is now
Anthony van Dyck was provided with a house on the River Thames at Blackfriars, then just outside the City, thus avoiding the monopoly of the Worshipful Company of Painter-Stainers. A suite of rooms in Eltham Palace, no longer used by the royal family, was also put at his disposal as a country retreat. His Blackfriars studio was frequently visited by the King and Queen (later a special causeway was built to ease their access), who hardly sat for another painter while van Dyck lived. He was an immediate success in England, rapidly painting a large number of portraits of the King and Queen