\paperw4260 \margr0\margl0 \plain \fs20 \f1 This picture was commissioned from Reni by the count of Onate. The artist finished it in 1631. The painting dates from the artistÆs ma
turity, a period in which Guido Reni showed particular skill in the narration of ôstories,ö some of them drawn from the classical world, with great liveliness, using a palette of pale and luminous colors derived from \b \cf4 \ATXht1147 Veronese\b0 \cf0 \ATXht0 . \par
And it is with courtly rhythms and elegance that the painter interprets the famous episode of the abduction of Helen, the wife of King Menelaus of Sparta, by the youthful Paris. \par
In the right-hand corner we see the little Cupid-Eros wit
h his bow and arrow, while the center of the composition is taken up by Helen and Paris, in elegant attitudes and accompanied by young soldiers and three graceful handmaidens. \par
On the left, a young Black reminiscent of some of VeroneseÆs figures len
ds a theatrical effect to the picture, along with the two small animals playing at the center of the image. \par
In the background the horizon opens onto a view of the sea, which is probably intended to evoke the voyage they would have to make to reach
