3-015-728 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

The Three Graces, 1872. The Graces, often three in number, were goddesses who represented such qualities as charm, beauty, and creativity. This small bronze is based on a monumental sculpture Carpeaux designed for the exterior of the Palais Garnier, home of the Paris Opera. The bolts on the figures’ limbs indicate that this was a bronze caster’s model, which could be assembled to produce multiple versions of the original. Such models were not intended for display and this one has a roughly finished surface that bears the artist’s tool marks.