The Three Graces 1504 - 1514

Curator: Pinturicchio's "The Three Graces," created sometime between 1504 and 1514, is part of the collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. This oil painting presents a Renaissance interpretation of the classical motif. Editor: Well, my first thought is, they look a little sad. Or is it pensive? There's a coolness about it, like they've seen something...or maybe they’re just cold! Curator: The figures certainly possess a restrained, somewhat melancholic beauty typical of the Renaissance fascination with ideal forms tempered by human emotion. Representations of the Graces were common gifts at weddings or for rulers entering territories to represent virtues. Editor: I see. It's funny how different the "Graces" are to the eye through the ages, this feels different than what Botticelli or Rubens did with them. The figures are quite slender, very poised. You know, there's almost something a little Medieval about it too, perhaps in the stylization. Curator: Indeed, Pinturicchio's style bridges the early Renaissance with the aesthetics of the late Middle Ages. And in his rendition, we might see an attempt to subtly subvert, or at least modernize the symbolism and ideal of beauty that existed prior, to align with new humanist ideas of the time. Editor: They do feel poised on the cusp, don't they? Gazing at both an old ideal of the beautiful form and perhaps the promise of an imperfect future. Makes you wonder, what virtues are being asked of us these days? Curator: What's striking is how a classical allegory has become, under Pinturicchio's brush, a reflection on its historical context. Editor: In the end, I keep coming back to this odd sense of calm that permeates from this small disc. Thanks, Pinturicchio. Curator: It's this blend of timeless beauty with specific cultural concerns that keeps these Graces in our sight.