European Sculpture Gallery, Hermitage Museum Poster

"European Sculpture Gallery, Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia" by Catherine Sherman. "The Three Graces," created 1813-1816 by Antonio Canova, is a sculpture, shown here in the foreground, on display in the European Sculpture Gallery in the Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg, Russia. The Three Graces are from the youngest to oldest the Graces were: Agleaea ("Beauty"), Euphrosyne ("Good Cheer"), and Thalia ("Festivities"). Also known as the Charites (Greek Mythology name) or Gratiae by the Romans. They appear in many works of art, such as Boticelli's Primavera at the Uffizi gallery. The State Hermitage Museum is a museum of art and culture and is one of the largest and oldest museums in the world. It was founded in 1764 by Catherine the Great and has been open to the public since 1852. The museum's collections, of which only a small part is on permanent display, comprise over three million items, including the largest collection of paintings in the world. The collections occupy a large complex of six historic buildings along Palace Embankment, including the Winter Palace, a former residence of Russian emperors. The Hermitage Museum is part of the Historic Center of Saint Petersburg and Related Groups of Monuments, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.