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By Sandro Botticelli (1445–1510 CE), commissioned by Lorenzo and Giovanni di Pierfrancesco de'Medici for Villa di Castello 

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The Graces can be difficult to identify in art as they have no particular attributes, but they are most commonly portrayed as a trio of beautiful young women in Greek and Roman ar,t where they either dance or move in a procession. They appeared in Archaic and Classical Greek art on pottery, relief sculpture, coins, and even on the throne of Zeus at Olympia, according to Pausanias.

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An oil painting of the The Graces ( Charities) by Giovanni Martinelli 

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The Graces of Greek mythology, also called the Charites, are sister goddesses. In Roman mythology, the Graces are called the Gratiae. Their names are Aglaea, which means radiance or beauty; Euphrosyne, which means joy; and Thalia, which means bloom.

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The Three Graces, from Sandro Botticelli's painting "Primavera" in the Uffizi Gallery

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The Charities (Charis) were the three (or more) goddesses of charm, beauty, nature, human creativity, and fertility.

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The Charites were usually considered the daughters of Zeus and Eurynome, though they were also said to be daughters of Dionysus and Aphrodite or of Helios and the naiad Aegle. Homer wrote that they were part of the retinue of Aphrodite. The Charites were also associated with the Greek underworld and the Eleusinian Mysteries. The river Cephissus near Delphi was sacred to them.

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The Charites are constant companions of Aphrodite, and She is the Goddess they are closest to. Part of their relationship with the Goddess of Love is the fact that the Charites know the art of making aromatic oils, which make the skin fragrant and enhance sexual desire. Also, they assisted in Aphrodite's birth from the sea. Moreover, they are often in the company of other fertility Gods, such as Demeter, Hera, and Dionysos.

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The Charites' major mythological role was to attend the other Olympians, particularly during feasts and dances.

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Aphrodite and Adonis are accompanied by a retinue of Charites, Horae and Erotes. The goddess is seated beside her lover Adonis on the far right. The attendants are Carpoicis (Lady of Fruit) holding a basket of fruit and quail(?) on the far left, three Charites (Graces) and six winged Erotes (Loves) in the center. One of the infant love-gods sticks his head in a hive and is surrounded by swarming bees.

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The goddess Aphrodite with the three Charites, Kalpis Class of Brussels A 3099 (detail), Attic red figure, around 410 B.C.,

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Poseidon, Amphitrite and the Charites, Athenian black-figure dinos C6th B.C., British Museum

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Bowl with relief of the Three Graces, 200-260 AD, Carthage. British Museum.

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The younger Charites Pandaisia (Feasting), carrying a tray of ripe fruit and a myrtle(?) frond, and Eudaimonia (Happiness), seated holding a necklace, are accompanied by Eros the winged god of love. Other figures in the scene (not shown) include Aphrodite, Hygeia (Health) and Polycles.

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The Graces Eudaemonia, Harmonia and Paedia, Athenian red-figure hydria C5th B.C., National Archaeological Museum of Florence

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the Three Graces (or Charites), Euphrosyne personifies allegress, Thalie, overabundance and Aglae, splendor - Eau forte by Jacques Louis Constant Lacerf, based on an illustration by Leonard Defrance (1735-1805)

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This mosaic piece was made during the period of the Imperial Romans. Three Charites (Graces), crowned with wreaths of myrtle and adorned with golden arm and leg bands, dance in a circle.

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The three Charites (Graces) dance naked in a circle, two resting their hands on the shoulders of the third. They are crowned with wreaths and hold sprigs of myrtle.

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Fresco, Imperial Roman IV Style

"Pompeii, House of Titus Dentatus Panthera"

Date ca 65 -79 A.D.

Period Imperial Roman

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Mosaic of the Three Graces, 3rd-4th c. AD, Barcelona. Barcelona Archaeology Museum.

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Apart from 'grace', the primary meaning of the word 'Charis' meant the joy that one radiates when characterized by noble emotions, but also the joy and exhilaration that is brought to others around them.

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Pindar, Olympian Ode 14. 5 ff (trans. Conway) (Greek lyric C5th B.C.) :
"Kharites (Charites, Graces) three . . . Euphrosyne, lover of song, and Aglaia (Aglaea) revered, daughters of Zeus the all-highest . . . with Thalia, darling of harmony."

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The Three Graces (1831), by James Pradier. Louvre, Paris 

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There was a festival in honour of the Charites which was called Charisia (Χαρίσια). During this festival there were dances all night and at the end a cake was given to those who remained awake during the whole time

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The Three Graces, Antonio Canova's first version, now in the Hermitage Museum

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One of the earliest centres of worship for the Charites was the Cycladic Islands including Paros, with epigraphical evidence for a cult to the Charites dating to the sixth century B.C.E. on the island of Thera.

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Relief of the Three Graces, 2nd-3rd c. AD, Constanta. Constanta Archaeology & History Museum.

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Statue of the Three Graces, Ostia. Ostia Archaeological Museum.

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Relief of the Three Graces, Mercury and Asclepius, 1st-2nd c. AD, Rome. Vatican Museum.

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Despite the Charites usually being depicted nude entwined in a "closed symmetrical group", this was a later development, as in depictions from Archaic and Classical Greece, they are finely dressed,and usually shown in a line, as dancers.

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A marble relief plaque showing the Three Graces. Copy of a c. 470 BCE original by Sokrates the Boetian sculptor. (Archaeological Museum, Piraeus)

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Music, eloquence, poetry, and art, though the direct work of the Muses, received at the hands of the Graces an additional touch of refinement and beauty; for which reason they are always regarded as the friends of the Muses, with whom they lived on Mount Olympus.

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Charites were worshiped all over Greece. In Greece, art competitions were held to honour the Three Goddesses.

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Jacopo Tintoretto (c 1518-1594), Mercury and the Three Graces(1578), oil on canvas.

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These three divine sisters personified beauty in all its forms, from physical grace to artistic expression and the merriment of festivity.