The Three Graces

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The Three Graces: Raphael

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Art Type: Oil Painting
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Keywords: Graces

Work Overview: The Three Graces
Les Trois Grâces
Artist Raphael
Year 1504–1505
Medium Oil on panel
Dimensions 17.1 cm × 17.1 cm (6.7 in × 6.7 in)
Location Musée Condé, Chantilly

The Three Graces is an oil painting by Italian painter Raphael, housed in the Musée Condé of Chantilly, France. The date of origin has not been positively determined, though it seems to have been painted at some point after his arrival to study with Pietro Perugino in about 1500,[1] possibly 1503-1505.[2][3] According to James Patrick in 2007's Renaissance and Reformation, the painting represents the first time that Raphael had depicted the nude female form in front and back views.

The image depicts three of the Graces of classical mythology. It is frequently asserted that Raphael was inspired in his painting by a ruined Roman marble statue displayed in the Piccolomini Library of the Siena Cathedral—19th-century art historian [Dan K] held that it was a not very skillful copy of that original—but other inspiration is possible, as the subject was a popular one in Italy.[1][4] Julia Cartwright in Early Work of Raphael (2006) proposes that the painting bears far more influence of the school of Ferrara than classical sculpture, making clear that the statue was not Raphael's model.

The three women in the painting may represent stages of development of woman, with the girded figure on the left representing the maiden (Chastitas) and the woman to the right maturity (Voluptas),though other interpretations have certainly been advanced.[6][7]

In 1930, Professor Erwin Panofsky proposed that this painting was part of a diptych along with Vision of a Knight and that based on the theme of Vision the painting represented the Hesperides with the golden apples which Hercules stole.[8] Some art historians disagree with Panofsky's conclusion. Roger Jones and Nicholas Penny, in 1987's biography Raphael, suggest that the scale differences of the figures in the paintings make it unlikely that they were intended as a diptych, though "one might have formed the lid of the other."[9] In 16th Century Italian Art (2006), Michael Wayne Cole opines that while "there can be no doubt that they form a pair...they must not be imagined as a diptych, which is excluded by their square shape and also by the change in scale of the figures."[7] Cole presents the figures as handmaidens of Venus, holding the golden apples with which she is associated and affirming the proper connection of "Virtus" (presented by Vision) and Amor.

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Raphael’s Three Graces shows the three graces of Greek and Roman myth. Aglaea, Euphrosyne, and Thalia dance together in a meadow. In one hand, each holds an apple, possibly the golden apples from the Garden of the Hesperides. Their other hands are on each other’s shoulders in what seems a show of sisterly affection. They are all innocently naked, though the goddess on the left wears a scrap of diaphanous material over her hips, and the woman on the right wears a jeweled necklace. The hair of all three of the Graces is elaborately done, and held in place or embellished with jewels.

An Early Work
The painting, which is an oil on panel, was painted between 1504 and 1505, when Raphael was in his early 20s. It is reputed to be the first study the young painter did of the female nude from both the front and the back. Raphael’s youth is manifest in this painting. Though he depicts the anatomy of the three goddesses with care and realism, the brush strokes are a bit crude and there’s a lack of refinement in the women’s otherwise lovely and gentle-eyed faces. The painting has only hints of Raphael’s mastery to come. This can especially be seen in the middle goddess, whose back faces the viewer and whose face is in a primitively rendered profile.
Beauty and Bleakness
The background reminds the viewer, suspiciously, of the background of the Mona Lisa, which was painted around the same time. Done in the misty, sfumato style that was popular at the time, Raphael’s background is full of gentle but bleak looking hills, a lake, and stunted trees that march, in perfectly mastered perspective, toward misty, chalk gray mountains. The Graces themselves seem to be standing on a patch of barren or cleared land, and in the foreground are a few weak looking weeds. The painting is an almost violent contrast to Botticelli’s Three Graces, who dance in the midst of colorful, burgeoning nature.
The painting is now located in the Musée Condé in Chantilly, France.

The figurative powers which Raphael developed in Florence led to a more synthetic conception of form, a refinement of intellectual expression, which are visible in the Knight's Dream in the National Gallery, London, and the Three Graces of Chantilly. Critics believe that the two panels may have formed a single diptych presented to Scipione di Tommaso Borghese at his birth, in 1493. The theme of the paintings may by drawn from the poem, Punica, by Silius Italicus, which was well known in antiquity and which humanistic culture restored to fame. In the first panel, Scipio, the sleeping knight, must choose between Venus (pleasure) and Minerva (virtue); in the second, the Graces reward his choice of virtue with the Golden Apples of the Hesperides. The classical origin of this theme brings us back without doubt to the Florentine environment. The composition, which is dominated by a sense of great harmony, is a figurative consequence of the literary theme.

Three Graces are the personification of grace and beauty and the attendants of several goddesses. In art they are often the handmaidens of Venus, sharing several of her attributes such as the rose, myrtle, apple and dice. Their names according to Hesoid (Theogony 905) were Aglaia, Euphrosyne and Thalia. They are typically grouped so that the two outer figures face the spectator, the one in the middle facing away. This was their antique form, known and copied by the Renaissance.

The group has been the subject of much allegorising in different ages. Seneca (c. 4 B.C.-A.D. 65) (De Beneficiis l.3:2) described them as smiling maidens, nude or transparently clothed, who stood for the threefold aspect of generosity, the giving, receiving and returning of gifts, or benefits: "ut una sit quae det beneficium, altera quae accipiat, tertia quae reddat." The Florentine humanist philosophers of the 15th century saw them as three phases of love: beauty, arousing desire, leading to fulfillment; alternatively as the personification of Chastity, Beauty and Love, perhaps with the inscription "Castitas, Pulchritudo, Amor."

The Three Graces is Raphael's first study of the female nude in both front and back views. It was probably not based on living models, however, but on the classical sculpture group of the Three Graces in Siena.

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The Three Graces (c. 1501-1505) is a small picture by the Italian High Renaissance painter Raphael. It is housed in the Musée Condé, Chantilly, France.

The figurative powers which Raphael developed in Florence led to a more synthetic conception of form and a refinement of intellectual expression, which is visible in the paintings of Knight's Dream and the Three Graces.

Critics believe that the two panels may have formed a single diptych presented to Scipione di Tommaso Borghese at his birth, in 1493 The theme of the paintings may by drawn from the Latin poem Punica by Silius Italicus, which was well known in antiquity and which humanistic culture restored to fame. In the first panel, Scipio, the sleeping knight, must choose between Venus (pleasure) and Minerva (virtue); in the second, the Graces reward his choice of virtue with the Golden Apples of the Hesperides. Classical themes were treasured by contemporary Florentine patrons. The composition is dominated by a sense of great harmony.

Three Graces are the personification of grace and beauty and the attendants of several goddesses. In art, they are often the handmaidens of Venus, sharing several of her attributes such as the rose, myrtle, apple and dice. Their names according to Hesiod (Theogony 905) were Aglaia, Euphrosyne and Thalia. They are typically grouped so that the two outer figures face the spectator, and the one in the middle faces away. This was their antique form, known and copied by the Renaissance.

The group has been the subject of much allegorising in different ages. Seneca (De Beneficiis, l.3:2) described them as smiling maidens, nude or transparently clothed, who stood for the threefold aspect of generosity: the giving, receiving, and returning of gifts or benefits: ut una sit quae det beneficium, a quae accipiat, tertia quae reddat. The Florentine humanist philosophers of the 15th century saw them as three phases of love: beauty, arousing desire, leading to fulfillment; natively, as the personification of Chastity, Beauty and Love, perhaps with the inscription "Castitas, Pulchritudo, Amor."

The Three Graces is Raphael's first study of the female nude in both front and back views. However, it was probably not based on living models, but either directly or indirectly on the classical sculpture group of the Three Graces in the Piccolomini Library of the Duomo of Siena.

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This painting by Regnault perfectly typifies the taste for antiquity that was in vogue in 18th-century France. The artist interpreted an ancient sculpture with skill and precision, bringing it to life with color, charm, and beauty. The best known representations of the three Graces include Botticelli's Primavera, the paintings by Raphael and Rubens, and a sculpted group by Canova.
A mythological subject
This painting depicts three goddesses from ancient Greek mythology called the Graces, known in Greek as the Charites. Originally goddesses of nature, they came to be generally considered as companions of Aphrodite (Venus), the goddess of Love and Beauty. According to poetic and literary tradition, the Graces were three in number, and their names were Euphrosyne, Thalia, and Aglaia. Eternally young and lovely, they represented charm, beauty, and human creativity, and were depicted naked, originally holding attributes such as apples, roses, and sprigs of myrtle.
The poses of the figures in this painting were directly inspired by an ancient marble statue in the Libreria Piccolomini in the Duomo at Siena: the nymph in the middle is seen from behind; the one on the left faces the viewer, with her head turned to one side; the one on the right is shown in profile, her head turned toward the viewer. The result resembles three different views of the same figure. The three goddesses are linked together in a ring, holding each other by the waist or neck to form a graceful chain.
The triumph of neoclassicism
This painting, with its smooth contours, sinuous forms, and luminous colors is typical of Regnault's style. The mythological subject served as a pretext for painting three young women in graceful poses, the pinkish-white of their flesh tones enhanced by a dark background dotted with tiny flowers. The contrast of light and shade and the pure "Greek style" lines reflect Regnault's charming brand of neoclassicsim, expressed with almost excessive perfection.
A brilliant career during a tumultuous period in history
In 1764, Jean-Baptiste Regnault followed his father (who left for America in the hope of making his fortune) before joining the merchant navy as a ship's boy. On his father's death he returned to France, where his artistic abilities attracted attention. He joined the studio of the painter Jean Bardin, and in 1768 accompanied his teacher to Rome where he moved in artistic circles, mixing with the early neoclassical theorists. He was awarded the Premier Prix de Rome (First Grand Prize) in 1776, and went back to Italy as a pensioner of the King. Returning to France in 1783, he became a member of the Royal Academy, and was elected a member of the Institute in 1795. Many aspiring artists were trained in Regnault's studio. His major contemporary rival was Jacques-Louis David (1748-1825). His experience of several political regimes, from the Revolution and the Empire (when he was made a baron) to the Restoration, may explain that his work is characterized by great variety despite a remarkable constancy of style and expression. Although he is described as a portraitist and history painter, he owes much of his fame to mythological paintings, in which he excelled (the Three Graces being one of his best known).

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