Three Ladies Adorning a Term of Hymen

These are the aristocratic Montgomery sisters—Barbara, Elizabeth, and Anne—daughters of the Irish nobleman Sir William Montgomery and famously referred to as the "Irish Graces." In this painting, they are depicted gathering flowers to adorn a statue of Hymen, the Roman god of marriage. Sir Joshua Reynolds posed the sisters in what he described as "a variety of graceful historical attitudes," drawing inspiration from esteemed old master painters like the 17th-century French artist Nicolas Poussin. While Reynolds aimed to elevate his subjects by referencing classical art, this approach also exposed him to accusations of plagiarism.

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