Baroque · 1630s
The Three Graces
The Three Graces (1630s) by Peter Paul Rubens. Its palette is led by dark taupe (#403423, 28%) and umber (#755f3a, 24%), with accents of golden umber, warm black and muted azure blue. Overall the canvas is light, moderately saturated and warm.
Color note
Rubens painted luminous flesh by laying thin, warm glazes over light grounds so the ground glows through. At the French Academy around 1700, the “Rubénistes” made him their model in the argument that color matters more than drawing.
Palette
- #403423 MG 177 dark taupe 28.3% of canvas
- #755f3a MG 184 umber 23.7% of canvas
- #a98e63 MG 182 golden umber 15.7% of canvas
- #ead9c1 MG 201 parchment 13.5% of canvas
- #d4bd9e MG 180 pale sand 12.1% of canvas
- #18110a MG 220 warm black 3.5% of canvas
- #82919f MG 095 muted azure blue 3.1% of canvas
Color families
Brown 65%, White 14%, Black 8%, Yellow 7%, Gray 4%
Measurements
Composition
59% of the visual weight is in the left half, 51% in the upper half. Symmetry 0.24 (how closely its shapes and edges mirror each other). 6% of the canvas is calm space. Half of the detail sits in 36% of the canvas. Measured from the image, not a rule the painter followed.
Details
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More by Peter Paul Rubens
- Samson and Delilah, c. 1609
- The Elevation of the Cross, 1609
- The Rape of the Daughters of Leucippus, 1618