Antonio Canova was a highly regarded Italian Neoclassical sculptor that worked in the 19th century. Canova’s area of expertise, Neoclassicism, drew inspiration from the art and culture of classical antiquity which favoured idealised human bodies and mythical subjects. While Canova’s pure white marbles are smooth, sensuous, and graceful in pose; he uses the composition of the piece ‘The Three Graces’ (1815-17) to explore the male gaze and female subversion. The Three Graces were mythological sisters and goddesses of youth, beauty, mirth, and elegance; and their iconography was popular during the Neoclassical period, cropping up in many important artworks. Canova’s work depicts three poised, elegant, alluring female figures that cluster together in a tender embrace held united by a scarf wrapped around their slender legs (in an suggestively erotic fashion); a strikingly intimate scene in which the viewer almost uncomfortably becomes a voyeur.