Artwork Page for The Three Graces

Details / Information for The Three Graces

The Three Graces

1786

Jean François Janinet

(French, 1752–1814)

after Giovanni Antonio Pellegrini

(Italian, 1675–1741)
Culture
France, 18th century
Medium
Color wash-manner etching and engraving
Measurements
Platemark: 44 x 32 cm (17 5/16 x 12 5/8 in.); Sheet: 50.5 x 33.5 cm (19 7/8 x 13 3/16 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of Moselle Taylor Meals 1977.94
Catalogue raisonné
Fonds Français 18ieme Siecle - XII.24.40
State
I/II
Public Domain
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Location
Not on view
Print
?

Did You Know?

In addition to his work in printmaking, Jean-François Janinet was an amateur physicist and experimented with traveling by hot air balloon.

Description

Since ancient times, art critics had praised painters for their ability to portray subjects so lifelike that they might be mistaken for the real thing. The mastery of printing techniques that produced full-color images like this one featuring female nudes with remarkably naturalistic skin gave French printmakers new capabilities that for centuries had been the exclusive domain of painters.
A vertically oriented color wash-manner etching and engraving depicts three soft-bodied nude women, known as the Three Graces, in a landscape. The central figure stands with her back to us, arms resting on her companions' shoulders. The two flanking figures face forward, each with an arm around the central woman's waist. They hold small clusters of flowers against a backdrop of rolling hills and a hazy, blue sky.

The Three Graces

1786

Jean François Janinet, Giovanni Antonio Pellegrini

(French, 1752–1814), (Italian, 1675–1741)
France, 18th century

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