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Catalogue raisonné: Description in Italian Paintings: Three Centuries of Collecting, Nationalmuseum, Stockholm, 2015, cat.no. 87: 

FORMER INV. NOS.: 331 (M. 1796–97); 263 (F. 1798); 401 (M. 1804);
KM 476.

TECHNICAL NOTES: The support is a coarsely woven, plainweave
linen fabric and has a red ground. It has been glue-lined
and mounted on a non-original stretcher, probably at the Nationalmuseum
in 1925. Brushstrokes and other impastos have been flattened
during the lining process. The paint layer is worn and there
are many old retouches throughout. The varnish is slightly yellowed.
Documented restorations: 1925: Relined. Mended. Cleaned,
new stretcher.

PROVENANCE: Martelli 1804.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: Sander 1872–76, III, p. 131, no. 401.

An alternative title for the subject is The Three
Graces. Two graces have seized Cupid’s bow and
arrows, while Venus, regarded in this context as
one of the graces, blindfolds him, thereby preventing
him from mischievously instigating amorous
escapades. There is another Cupid present in
the composition, leaning on his mother’s shoulder
watching the proceedings; this is Eros, the god of
mutual love, while the Cupid being blindfolded is
the god of sensual love, Anteros. There have been
several additional interpretations of the painting:
the most convincing one views the scene as part of
Cupid’s education, suggesting that the two graces
to the right are actually handing him his bow and
arrows, rather than taking them away. The different
interpretations of the rare iconography are
testament to the continuing allure of this masterpiece
from Titian’s late period. There have
also been several copies – four previously known,
one of which is also in the collections of the
Nationalmuseum (NM 205) – as well as many
engravings.¹

In Fredenheim’s catalogue the present painting
is attributed to Schiavone and described as “Les
trois graces, copie du Tizien”.² On the original
verso label, Corvi and Tofanelli describe it as
“Tiziano; Le tre Grazie. Copia creduta per mano
di Schiavone”. Schiavone is known to have copied
one of Titian’s mythological paintings late in life,
the Diana and Actaeon. In 1559 he was invited by
Titian himself to paint several variant copies of
the painting. These variants are all smaller than
the original, and one of them should perhaps be
regarded as an interpretation rather than a copy:
it only reproduces part of the composition, and
Diana’s attendants in the picture are positioned
quite differently. Diana and Actaeon was commissioned
by King Philip II and was sent to Spain in
1559, which means that Schiavone could not have
had access to the painting other than in Titian’s
studio.³ Although no direct copies of other Titian
paintings by Schiavone are documented, it is likely
that he would have been allowed to make such
copies, especially of paintings that Titian had
recently finished and that were still in his studio.

The soft touch of the artist’s brushstrokes of
the Nationalmuseum copy seems remarkably
close to the original and just as in the original,
the figures and their robes are delineated with
delicate outlines, which although clearly quite
distinct, also seem to dissipate somewhat into the
background colour.⁴ Unlike other known copies
of the painting, this one manages to reproduce
the dramatic sky of the original, its shifting hues
of red so important for the overall chromatic
effect of the composition. The brushstrokes
rendering the outline and volume of the mountain
are repeated in the copy, though perhaps with a
somewhat lighter touch. Although different in
tone, the rendering of the landscape, both sky and
mountain, is similar to that found in Schiavone’s
painting of the Mystic Marriage of St Catherine in
an Italian private collection.⁵

The golden iridescence which pervades the
original is repeated in the copy, appearing in the
hair and cloaks of the three graces, as well as in
the background, and in additional details such
as the right wing of the Cupid being blindfolded.
This iridescence is more muted in the copy however,
for example in the Cupid’s wings; there is
not the same deftness in the execution of the wing
feathers, and while Titian also depicts iridescence
in the left wing, this is missing in the copy.

There are a few other stylistic differences as
well: the noses of the grace holding the bow, in
particular, and of Venus are more pointed, a
typical characteristic of female faces rendered by
Schiavone during his last period. The somewhat
disproportioned cherubs of Schiavone’s paintings
in general are quite close to the Eros of the
painting. The head of Eros is more bulbous in the
copy, and Titian’s well-balanced rendering of his
face, which gives him an inquisitive, yet serene,
expression, has been replaced by a more summary
execution, lending him an almost anxious
appearance. His head and facial expression are
quite similar to those of the boy in the foreground
of Schiavone’s Presentation in the Temple
in the Accademia, Venice.⁶ Titian’s depiction of
the varied hues of the skin of the different figures
is quite absent in the copy. The hands of the
figures are all expertly executed, but they lack the
finely realized detail of the original, delineating
muscles and veins, for example in the left hand of
the grace holding the quiver of arrows.

The painting seems to bear all the hallmarks
of a contemporary copy and the hand of a master
artist. In this respect Schiavone is a possible
attribution, especially given the stylistic traits
found in the painting. There are some problems
with such an attribution, though. For many years
it was thought that the year of Schiavone’s death
was 1582.⁷ However, as Richardson has shown, it
was actually 1563.⁸

The dating of the original in the Borghese
Gallery is not certain, however; there are no
documents left concerning its commission and it
has therefore been dated exclusively on stylistic
grounds. Without question the painting should
be dated to the 1560s, but there is no one clear
trait that specifically dates it to 1565, which has
been the generally accepted date of its execution.⁹
It probably belongs to a group of paintings made
at the same time as the great commission from
Spain. The close similarities to the Diana and
Callisto that was part of this commission, especially
the almost Mannerist execution of Venus,
have been pointed out, despite the differences in
theme and mood of the two paintings.¹⁰ Stylistically,
the Borghese painting is also close to Diana
and Actaeon, and it could possibly have been executed
around the same time as these paintings.
If it was, there is a strong case for attributing the
present painting to Schiavone, on account both
of its qualities and of his being invited to Titian’s
studio to make copies at that time.

However, the present work must be considered
something else entirely than Schiavone’s smaller-
sized interpretations of Diana and Actaeon.
These paintings, which seem quite Mannerist
and even impressionistic in style, belong to a type
quite different from Schiavone’s more elaborate
compositions, which on the other hand have more
in common with the Nationalmuseum copy.
These include the artist’s different renditions of
Christ before Pilate, as well as the Holy Family with
St Catherine and the Infant St John, the Presentation
in the Temple, the Judgment of Midas and the
Danae.¹¹ The Christ before Pilate in the Kunsthistorisches
Museum, Vienna, dated by Richardson
to the very last year of Schiavone’s life, bears a
particularly close affinity to the present painting.
¹² Christ’s downcast face and profile and the
fine line of his pointed nose are all very similar
to the grace carrying the bow. The woman in the
centre reminds us of Venus, perhaps especially in
the execution of her mouth and jaw. There is also
a general chromatic similarity between the two
paintings – the same muted colours ranging from
dark brown and dark red to a lighter grey – as
well as a similar type of static mood. In addition,
there is, compared with Schiavone’s earlier work,
a more distinct delineation of outlines of details,
such as the hands found in both the Vienna and
the Nationalmuseum painting, a feature typical
of this artist’s very late work. If Schiavone made
a copy of Titian’s late masterpiece, it is probable
that it influenced the execution of his own compositions
around the same time.¹³

The fact that, in Martelli’s original catalogue,
this painting is listed under Schiavone rather
than under the master of the original, Titian
himself, shows that the hand behind the copy was
appreciated to such a degree that it warranted this
special honour; in almost all other cases, copies
are listed under the name of the painter of the
original.¹⁴ That the attribution of this copy was
especially valued is also corroborated by Corvi
and Tofanelli’s description on the original label,
“Copia creduta per mano di Schiavone”: obviously
there was a tradition concerning this painting
that it was not just any copy after Titian; it was a
contemporary one of great quality which showed
“the hand of Schiavone”.
dp

1 Wethey 1975, pp. 85, 131–132.
2 NM Archives, Kongl. Museum, F:1, Catalogue du Cabinet
de Martelli (à Rome).
3 Richardson 1980, pp. 54–72.
4 Ibid. In fact, Richardson credits Schiavone as the original
inspiration for this typical characteristic of work from
Titian’s late period.
5 Richardson 1980, p. 183, cat. no. 310, fig. 207.
6 Ibid., pp. 173–174, cat. no. 292, fig. 139.
7 Ibid., pp. 3, 12, 15–16. This view was primarily based on
Carlo Ridolfi’s description of the artist’s life in Le Maraviglie
dell’arte, published in 1648.
8 Richardson 1980, pp. 3, 12, 15–16.
9 Wethey 1975, pp. 85, 131–132.
10 Ibid.
11 Richardson 1980, cat. no. 260, fig. 182; cat. no. 288, fig. 170;
cat. no. 291, fig. 144; cat. no. 315, fig. 217; cat. no. 316, fig. 150;
cat. no. 292, fig. 139; cat. no. 253, fig. 120.
12 Ibid., p. 185, cat. no. 315, fig. 217.
13 Ibid., pp. 54–72.
14 NM Archives, Kongl. Museum, F:1, Catalogue du Cabinet
de Martelli (à Rome). [End]

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