The Three Graces  

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The Three Graces

Three Graces refers to the Charites, figures of Greek mythology, goddesses of charm, beauty, nature, human creativity and fertility. In Roman mythology they were known as the Gratiae.

In art

On the representation of the Graces, Pausanias wrote,

"Who it was who first represented the Graces naked, whether in sculpture or in painting, I could not discover. During the earlier period, certainly, sculptors and painters alike represented them draped ... but later artists, I do not know the reason, have changed the way of portraying them. Certainly today sculptors and painters represent Graces naked."

And Ashbee commented:

"Let the graces be stark naked, or vest them only with flowing drapery, and they may be as chaste as Susannah. Put them in drawers or tights and they become prostitutes. -- from Ashbee's Index Librorum Prohibitorum, part three, the review of The Mysteries of Verbena House."

In Renaissance art, the Roman statue group of the three graces in the Piccolomini library in Duomo di Siena inspired most themes. In Northern Renaissance, Hans Baldung Grien has a 1540 interpretation and in modern and contemporary art there are Jean Arp and Joel-Peter Witkin [1].

See also

The term The Three Graces may refer to:

• Charites, known in Greek mythology as The Three Graces, goddesses of such things as charm, beauty, and creativity. In Roman mythology they were known as the Gratiae.
• An art topic depicted in dozens of paintings and sculptures, including:
  • The Three Graces (Raphael), a 16th century painting by Raphael
  • The Three Graces (sculpture), a 19th century neo-classical sculpture by Antonio Canova
  • The Three Graces, painting by Michael Parkes referred to in Dan Brown's 2009 novel The Lost Symbol
• The Three Graces, 1908 opera which opened at the Chicago Opera House and starred such performers as Trixie Friganza
• The Three Graces (Три грации), 1988 Russian opera-parody composed by Vladimir Tarnopolsky
• The Three Graces, a set of three historical buildings on the waterfront in the UNESCO World Heritage site of Pier Head, Liverpool, England

See also

• Game of graces, a girl's game from the 19th century
• Charis (disambiguation)
• Triple Goddess
• Pretexts for nudity in art