Oil paint on canvas
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<a href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/sir-joshua-reynolds-444" aria-label="More by Sir Joshua Reynolds" data-gtm-name="header_link_artist" data-gtm-destination="page--artist">Sir Joshua Reynolds</a>
Three Ladies Adorning a Term Hymen
Bequeathed by the Earl of Blessington 1837
adults
Beresford, Barbara
classical myths: gods and heroes
dress: fantasy/fancy
fancy dress / role play
fine arts and music
Gardiner, Elizabeth
garland
groups
Hymen
individuals: female
landscape
marriage
Montgomery sisters
named families
named individuals
objects
people
plants and flowers
portraits
priestess
religion and belief
religious
sculpture, classical
sex and relationships
society
Townsend, Anne, Marchioness of
woman
wooded
work and occupations
<p>Joshua Reynolds paints the aristocratic Montgomery sisters, Barbara, Elizabeth and Anne, decorating a classical sculpture with flowers. Their poses associate them with the mythological Graces, personifying charm, grace and beauty. This emphasises the sisters’ beauty and elegance and may also playfully allude to their fame as ‘The Irish Graces’. By including the statue of Hymen, the Greek god of marriage and fertility, Reynolds also celebrates their desirability for marriage. Reynolds exhibited this painting in 1774. It exemplifies his ‘grand style’ of portraiture, which drew inspiration from classical and Renaissance art, and favoured idealised elements rather than current or specific fashions. The painting prompted one art critic to praise Reynolds’ ‘great Richness of Imagination’.</p><p><em>Gallery label, February 2024</em></p>
painting oil paint canvas
10 March 2003 – 12 July 2004
2004-07-12
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2003-03-10
Royal Academy
Collection based display
1 October 2006 – 10 September 2007
2007-09-10
1 October 2006 – 9 January 2007
2007-01-09
2006-10-01
Galeries Nationales du Grand Palais (Paris, France)
3 February 2007 – 20 April 2007
2007-04-20
2007-02-03
Royal Academy of Arts (London, UK)
http://www.royalacademy.org.uk
2006-10-01
Citizens and Kings, Portraiture in the Age of David and Goya, 1770 - 1830
Loan-out
12 November 2007 – 17 October 2010
2010-10-17
12 November 2007 – 17 October 2010
2010-10-17
2007-11-12
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2007-11-12
Grand Manner
Collection based display
2 December 2010 – 14 October 2012
2012-10-14
2 December 2010 – 14 October 2012
2012-10-14
2010-12-02
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2010-12-02
Gallery 9
Collection based display
29 November 2012 – 24 July 2022
2022-07-24
1 December 2012
2012-12-01
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2012-11-29
Gallery 15
Collection based display
26 November 2018 – 14 July 2019
2019-07-14
26 November 2018 – 14 July 2019
2019-07-14
2018-11-26
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2018-11-26
Joshua Reynolds
Collection based display
26 September 2022
26 September 2022
2022-09-26
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2022-09-26
Gallery 15
Collection based display
Three Ladies Adorning a Term of Hymen
support: 2337 × 2908 mm
frame: 2902 × 3382 × 180 mm
Bequeathed by the Earl of Blessington 1837
<div class="text">
<p>Joshua Reynolds paints the aristocratic Montgomery sisters, Barbara, Elizabeth and Anne, decorating a classical sculpture with flowers. Their poses associate them with the mythological Graces, personifying charm, grace and beauty. This emphasises the sisters’ beauty and elegance and may also playfully allude to their fame as ‘The Irish Graces’. By including the statue of Hymen, the Greek god of marriage and fertility, Reynolds also celebrates their desirability for marriage. Reynolds exhibited this painting in 1774. It exemplifies his ‘grand style’ of portraiture, which drew inspiration from classical and Renaissance art, and favoured idealised elements rather than current or specific fashions. The painting prompted one art critic to praise Reynolds’ ‘great Richness of Imagination’. </p>
</div>

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2024-02-27T00:00:00
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DISPLAY_CAPTION
adults Beresford, Barbara classical myths: gods and heroes dress: fantasy/fancy fancy dress / role play fine arts and music Gardiner, Elizabeth garland groups Hymen individuals: female landscape marriage Montgomery sisters named families named individuals objects people plants and flowers portraits priestess religion and belief religious sculpture, classical sex and relationships society Townsend, Anne, Marchioness of woman wooded work and occupations