Lot Essay
Antonio Canova's first group of The Three Graces was commissioned by Empress Josephine in 1812. The marble was completed after her death in 1816 and taken to Montecarlo by her son, Eugène de Beauharnais. On the latter's death in 1824, the group became the property of the Duke of Leuchtenburg and was transported to St. Petersburg, where it is now kept in the Hermitage.
The group of The Three Graces was received with great acclaim. Stendhal claimed that Canova had created a new type of beauty; other critics admired the ingenious interlocking of curves which created a pleasing all-round view.
In 1815, John Russell, the 6th Duke of Bedford, commissioned a second version of The Three Graces from Canova. The marble was completed in 1817 and installed in Woburn Abbey two years later. It is now in the Victoria and Albert Museum. The second version of the group is slightly smaller and varies in some details, primarily the rectangular pedestal behind the maidens, which is transformed into a round column. Thus, the present group, dating from the second half of the nineteenth century,
is derived from Canova's second version.
The Three Graces - Aglaia, Euphrosyne and Thalia - often referred to in art as the handmaidens of Venus, have been the subject of much allegorizing througout the ages: Seneca perceived them as symbols of the threefold aspect of generosity - the giving, receiving and returning of gifts (De Beneficiis 1. 3:2) and in Renaissance Italy Florentine humanist philosophers described them as the three phases of love: Beauty, arousing Desire, leading to Fulfilment.
Another group of The Three Graces, earlier in date and slightly smaller in size, sold in these Rooms, 11 December 1990, lot 54.
The group of The Three Graces was received with great acclaim. Stendhal claimed that Canova had created a new type of beauty; other critics admired the ingenious interlocking of curves which created a pleasing all-round view.
In 1815, John Russell, the 6th Duke of Bedford, commissioned a second version of The Three Graces from Canova. The marble was completed in 1817 and installed in Woburn Abbey two years later. It is now in the Victoria and Albert Museum. The second version of the group is slightly smaller and varies in some details, primarily the rectangular pedestal behind the maidens, which is transformed into a round column. Thus, the present group, dating from the second half of the nineteenth century,
is derived from Canova's second version.
The Three Graces - Aglaia, Euphrosyne and Thalia - often referred to in art as the handmaidens of Venus, have been the subject of much allegorizing througout the ages: Seneca perceived them as symbols of the threefold aspect of generosity - the giving, receiving and returning of gifts (De Beneficiis 1. 3:2) and in Renaissance Italy Florentine humanist philosophers described them as the three phases of love: Beauty, arousing Desire, leading to Fulfilment.
Another group of The Three Graces, earlier in date and slightly smaller in size, sold in these Rooms, 11 December 1990, lot 54.