The Three Graces
Unknown · 2nd century AD (?)
Three young women stand naked in a row, arms around each other's shoulders, the two on the outside facing us and the central figure turned to show her back. They wear bracelets and once held ribbons. On either side, supports in the form of tall oil flasks draped with cloth steady the group on its moulded base. The composition was famous in antiquity, and Renaissance artists drew and copied it. The group was found in many fragments and reassembled, and the heads, several hands and feet were recut in Carrara marble in 1609 by the French sculptor Nicolas Cordier, working in Rome.
The Graces, goddesses of charm and festivity, were shown embracing as a symbol of giving, receiving and returning favours. This marble version, dated to the second century AD, was found in Rome in 1608 on the Caelian hill and immediately restored for the Borghese family, who displayed it as one of the jewels of their villa. Napoleon acquired it with the rest of the collection in 1807. A small relief of the same three figures hangs in this hall, and comparing the two shows how a Hellenistic invention was reproduced at every scale.
Did You Know? All three heads are the work of Nicolas Cordier in 1609; not one of the Graces still wears her ancient face.
Unlock the Full Guide
Read every room and listen to every work in all museums with premium.