In 1831 James Pradier produced his version of the Three Graces in a style that was then termed ‘antiquité voluptueuse’. Carved in marble, it was purchased by the French state under the direction of Louis Philippe and is part of the collection of the Louvre. Its immense popularity prompted Pradier to create a small version in bronze in 1839 for the collectors’ market, cast in an unnumbered unlimited edition by the Colin Foundry. Unlike many of Pradiers works this sculpture was not produced in a posthumous edition by Susse Frères, who cast works by Pradier both during his life-time and after his death.

Pradier’s version of the Three Graces exemplifies the sculptor’s innate ability to impart his sense of grace and feminine beauty into raw materials. Unlike Antonio Canova’s version, Pradier depicts the mythological three charities (daughters of Zeus) with open and unabashed body language. Whereas Canova’s figures turn away from the viewer and appear to conceal each other’s femineity and nudity.

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