On-line gallery
- Reference number
- P01670
- Author
- Rubens, Peter Paul
- Title
- The Three Graces
- Chronology
- Ca. 1635
- Technique
- Oil
- Support
- Wooden Panel
- Measures
- 221 cm x 181 cm
- School
- Flemish
- Theme
- Mythology. Gods
- Shown
- Yes
- Entrance
- RoyalCollection
- Procedence
- Royal Collection
According to Hesiod’s Theogony,
there were three Graces: Aglaia,
which means radiance; Euphrosine,
which means joy; and Thalia, which
means flowering. Born of one of
Zeus’s affairs, the three Graces
were pure virgins who lived with
the gods, served at the banquets
and fostered joie de vivre. They
served Aphrodite, the goddess of
love, and were never bored.
Rubens depicts them beside a
fountain, under a garland of
flowers in a landscape. The figures
are based on classical sculpture,
which is visible in the artist’s
effort to reproduce the coldness of
marble in their flesh. The circular
rhythm and elegant undulation are
customary characteristics of this
artist, along with the
grandiloquent shapes and warm
colors he brought into his painting
in his final years.
The figure on the left is directly
inspired by his second wife, Hélène
Forment. Painted shortly after his
marriage, it bears witness to the
happiness of the artist’s life,
which emerges in the sensuality of
his paintings from that moment.
This work belonged to the artist
until his death in 1640 and was
then acquired by Felipe IV and
taken to Spain.
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