Editing Charites (section)

===Ancient art===
[[File:ACMA Trois Grâces.jpg|thumb|Early 5th-century BCE relief from the [[acropolis of Athens]]; Ancient folklore held that it was sculpted by [[Socrates]], though this is unlikely.]]
Despite the Charites usually being depicted [[History of nude art|nude]] entwined in a "closed symmetrical group" for the last two millennia, this was a later development, as in depictions from [[Archaic Greece|Archaic]] and [[Classical Greece]], they are finely dressed,<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":5">{{Cite journal|last=Milleker|first=Elizabeth J.|date=1988|title=The Three Graces on a Roman Relief Mirror|journal=Metropolitan Museum Journal|volume=23|pages=69–81|doi=10.2307/1512847|jstor=1512847|s2cid=193031954}}</ref> and usually shown in a line, as dancers. In contrast, the third century BCE poets [[Callimachus]] and [[Euphorion of Chalcis|Euphorion]] describe the trio as being nude.<ref name=":5" />

The earliest representation of these goddesses was found in a temple of Apollo in [[Thermos (Aetolia)|Thermon]] dated to the seventh to sixth century BCE.<ref name=":4" /> It is possible, however, that the Charites are represented on a [[Mycenaean Greece|Mycenean]] golden seal ring that depicts two female figures dancing in the presence of a male figure, who has been interpreted as Hermes or Dionysus.<ref name=":4" /> Another early representation of the Charites, from a relief at the [[Paros]] colony of [[Thasos (town)|Thasos]] dated to the beginning of the fifth century BCE, shows the Charites with Hermes and either Aphrodite or Peitho, which marked the entrance to the old city.<ref name=":4" /> The opposite side of the relief shows Apollo being crowned by Artemis with nymphs in the background. At the entrance of the [[Acropolis|Akropolis]], there was a famous Classical era relief of the Charites and Hermes, and the popular belief was that the sculptor was [[Socrates]], although this is very unlikely.<ref name=":1" />

[[Kenneth Clark]] describes the "complicated" pose of the Three Graces facing inwards with interlaced arms as "one of the last beautiful inventions of antique art". He thought it was invented in the 1st century BCE, based on the proportions of the figures, and notes that none of the many survivals from antiquity are of "high quality".<ref>They are all "either mediocre commercial pieces or such rough imitations as local masons might make of a subject which was popular, but not yet sanctified by time". Clark, 85</ref>  The opportunity for artists to show their skill in representing figures with three nude female figures seen from different angles has been a factor in the enduring popularity of the subject.
[[File:Three Graces - Piccolomini Library - Duomo - Siena 2016.jpg|thumb|308x308px|The Three Graces from the [[Piccolomini Library]], now in [[Siena Cathedral]]|left]]

One of the earliest known Roman representations of the Graces was a wall painting in Boscoreale dated to 40 BCE, which also depicted [[Aphrodite]] with [[Eros]] and [[Dionysus]] with [[Ariadne]].<ref name=":5" /> The group may have also appeared on a small number of coins to symbolize the union between [[Marcus Aurelius]] and [[Faustina the Younger|Faustina Minor]] and on other coins they were depicted in the hands of [[Juno (mythology)|Juno]] or [[Venus (mythology)|Venus]].<ref name=":5" /> The Graces were common subject matter on Roman sarcophagi, and they were depicted on several mirrors.<ref name=":5" />
On the representation of the Graces, the second century CE guide book author [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]] wrote:

{{blockquote|Who it was who first represented the Graces naked, whether in sculpture or in painting, I could not discover. During the earlier period, certainly, sculptors and painters alike represented them draped. At [[Smyrna]], for instance, in the sanctuary of the [[Nemesis (mythology)|Nemeses]], above the images have been dedicated Graces of gold, the work of Bupalus; and in the Music Hall in the same city there is a portrait of a Grace, painted by [[Apelles]]. At [[Pergamon|Pergamus]] likewise, in the chamber of [[Attalus I|Attalus]], are other images of Graces made by Bupalus; and near what is called the Pythium there is a portrait of Graces, painted by Pythagoras the Parian. [[Socrates]] too, son of [[Sophroniscus]], made images of Graces for the Athenians, which are before the entrance to the Acropolis. Also, Socrates was known to have destroyed his own work as he progressed deeper into his life of philosophy and search of the conscious due to his iconoclastic attitude towards art and the like. All these are alike draped; but later artists, I do not know the reason, have changed the way of portraying them. Certainly to-day sculptors and painters represent Graces naked.
}}