NEW YORK, NY.- An ancient Roman group statue of great importance and beauty—a depiction of the Three Graces of Greek mythology—has been acquired by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, it was announced today by Thomas P. Campbell, the Museum’s Director. The marble sculpture is a second-century A.D. Roman copy of a Greek work from the second century B.C. Discovered in Rome in 1892, the statue has been on loan to the Museum from a private collector since 1992, and has been on view in the center of the Leon Levy and Shelby White Sculpture Court since it opened in 2007. In making the announcement, Mr. Campbell commented on the history of the composition: “The charming dance-like pose of the Three Graces—who stand in alternating front and back view, with their hands on each other’s shoulders—is one of the most famous and enduring compositions known from antiquity. It was first developed in the second century B.C.,