Burne-Jones made designs of Venus Concordia and Venus Discordia in 1870 as predellas for his huge polyptych The Story of Troy. In the early 1890s he re-visited the two subjects and began to work them up into two independent paintings, these were never finished but numerous drawings remain. The present study was made to decide the relationship and poses of the two outer figures of the Graces. Hence there is no interest in the upper half of the right figure as the artist is exploring the connection between the position of their hips. The Three Graces took on an importance beyond their inclusion in the painting, as is evidenced by the versions in Birmingham City Museum and Art Gallery and in Tullie House Museum, Carlisle.