Object Description
Antonio Canova (Italian, 1757-1822) is widely regarded as one of the masters of Neoclassical sculpture, and his marble group ‘The Three Graces’ is one of his most acclaimed works. This exceptional bronze group is a full-size replica of Canova’s masterpiece, and exhibits much of the lightness, harmoniousness and elegance of the original.
This bronze group was cast from Canova’s original by the Italian Fonderia Versiliese, the foundry who cast the famous oversized sculptures of Fernando Botero (Colombian, b. 1932). The figure is marked ‘Fonderia Artistica / Versiliese / Pietrasanta (Italy)’.
Canova was originally commissioned to make the group by the Empress Josephine, wife of Napoleon I, and a marble version of this now resides at the Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg. The more famous version, however, and the version after which this bronze group was made, is known as the Woburn Abbey marble, and was commissioned for the abbey by the Duke of Bedford, John Russel. It can now be found on display alternately at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London and at the National Galleries of Scotland in Edinburgh.
The present group is almost certainly one of the more impressive examples of the many copies of Canova’s sculpture, given its large size and rich, even patina.
The sculpture shows the Classical Three Graces (Thalia, Euphrosyne and Aglaea) standing together, huddled, on a naturalistic base.