The Three Graces at the Hermitage Museum, Russia

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The marble figure group was crafted specifically for the Sculpture Gallery at Woburn Abbey in Bedfordshire, and was initially housed in a specially designed Temple of the Graces. Commissioned by John Russel, 6th Duke of Bedford, from Antonio Canova, it was inspired by the sculptor's earlier work on the Three Graces for Empress Josephine, Napoleon Bonaparte's estranged wife. The Empress had recently passed away in May 1814, and the Duke offered to purchase the group, but her son claimed it, leaving a version now housed at the Hermitage in St Petersburg. The Duke commissioned a second version from Canova; this one was started in 1814, completed in 1817, and installed at Woburn Abbey in 1819. The sculptor himself traveled to England to oversee the installation, where it was displayed on a pedestal adapted from an earlier marble plinth, complete with a rotating top. The Three Graces, celebrated in classical literature and art, were the daughters of Jupiter (also known as Zeus in Greek mythology) and companions to the Muses. Thalia, personifying youth and beauty, is accompanied by Euphrosyne, embodying mirth, and Aglaia, representing elegance. Canova had first depicted the Graces in a painting from 1799 and other drawings and reliefs of the subject were also created around that time. In 1810 he crafted a terracotta sketch (now housed at the Musée de Lyon, France), while in 1812 Empress Josephine commissioned a full-size marble. Canova's marble group ultimately draws inspiration from his earlier drawings of the subject and a closely comparable terracotta sketch model. The immediate model for the marble used in the studio was a full-size plaster group still existing at the Canova Museum in Possagno, Italy, with points that were used to transfer the composition from the plaster to the marble. Canova himself designed the original layout of the group but left it up to his assistants to roughly block out the marble. The sculptor then completed the final carving and ensured that the surface of the stone was finished in a way that suggested the soft flesh of the figures and the harmonious relationships between their heads, such as. A slightly earlier version of this work now housed at St Petersburg, similarly overseen by Canova but differing in some details, showcases a high quality of carving. Copies made from marble during the 19th century after Canova's passing do not exhibit the same delicate handling of the marble.