Degas Dancer Felt Ornament

Created in the second century A.D., the Museum’s marble The Three Graces is a Roman copy of a Greek statue group from the second century B.C. These three young girls, linked in a dance-like pose, represent Aglaia (Beauty), Euphrosyne (Mirth), and Thalia (Abundance). Young, beautiful, and modest, they personify the graceful sensuousness of the female form; their closest connection is with Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty, whom they serve as handmaidens. This frieze-like composition in the Museum’s collection is typical of classicizing art of the second and first century B.C. Our reduced-scale reproduction was created using a combination of three- dimensional imaging and traditional sculpture techniques.