Charities (called in Latin Graces) ancient Greek divines
for beauty, grace and artistic inspiration, and perhaps also, in their
earliest form, of powers of vegetation. They are generally said to be tree
sisters called Euphrosyne, Thalia and Aglaea. Their father was Zeus,
mother either Eurynome, or Hera. They are usually
depicted as naked girls embracing at each other. They frequently accompany
Apollo,
Athena,
Aphrodite,
Eros and Dionysus.
See: Alessandro Botticelli
Venus
and the Three Graces presenting Gifts to a Young Woman,
Sir Edward Burne-Jones The
Tree Graces.
Correggio
Three Graces.
Pontormo. The Three Graces.
Raphael The Tree Graces.
Peter Paul Rubens The Three
Graces, The Three Graces.