Lewes FC reimagines Reubens’ famous painting with three different Graces: football team celebrates signing trio with same name

The football club said it got the idea after signing three women called Grace this season.

The photo shows left back Grace Garrad, midfielder Grace Palmer, and right back Grace Riglar.

A club spokesperson said: "In Reubens painting we see the Graces in a countryside idyll, naked, arms entwined, and dreamily enjoying the shade of a tree as Eros watches on. Lewes FC’s Graces are not passive or subject to the male gaze however, and are clothed (of course) in their Lewes FC kit. In their picture, taken up on the nearby Sussex Downs by local photographer Lily Bushnell, the young women have agency and have named their own values.”

Lewes FC is well known for campaigning for gender equality in football and championing female empowerment.

Grace Garrad said: “For me football is about Resilience so that’s what I’m representing.”

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Grace Riglar said: “I feel Freedom when I play football. I don’t have to think about anything else. I love that Freedom. That’s what I want to represent.”

Grace Palmer said: “To me football is my life and I play for the social aspect. I want to represent Friendship.”

Club Ambassador Karen Dobres said: “At Lewes FC we use football as a vehicle for social change, so to use our three Graces to change old-fashioned and restrictive ideas about what a woman should aspire to be seemed a no brainer. Our Graces are expressing their own values from their own perspectives, and they are outstanding footballers and role models.”

One of Lewes FC’s Sisterships, Women in Art gallery in Fisher Street, will display the portrait at ‘The Dreaming’ (January 5-6). Gallery owner Sarah Norris said the photo ‘embodies women who are proud, strong and confident in their bodies, not side-lined as passive muses’. She said: "In 2023 we’re still fighting for equality – this image asks the viewer to look at women through a different lens, literally.”

Lettings agency Ashton Burkinshaw sponsored the creation of the photo. Senior branch manager Rebecca Bredin said: “We’re great fans of Lewes FC and its equality campaign. We love how the club consistently associates football with culture and community, and are proud to sponsor the new Three Graces.”