A Stroke Of Genius: Antonio Canova

In my "A Stroke of Genius" series, I usually talk about painters. However, for the first time I would like to go into the world of sculpting and discuss Antonio Canova.

Italian Neoclassical sculptor Antonio Canova was born in Possagno, Italy on November 1st in 1757 to stonecutter father Pietro Canova and mother Maria Angela Zardo Fantolini. In 1761 at the age of four, Canova's father died and a year later, his mother remarried. That same year, he was placed with his paternal grandfather Pasino Canova. His grandfather was a stonemason who owned a quarry, as well as a sculptor who specialized in Baroque-styled altars. Naturally, Canova became interested in the craft. Before he was ten, Canova was making clay models and he learned how to carve marble. When he was nine, he created two small shrines made from Carrara marble which are still surviving today.

Portrait of Antonio Canova, www.antoniocanova.org

When Canova was thirteen, he was apprenticed for two years to sculptor Torretto a.k.a Giuseppe Bernardi. After his time with Torretto was up, Canova went under the guidance of sculptor Giovanni Ferrari until he began his schooling at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Venezia.

In 1775, Senator Giovanni Falier commissioned Canova to create statues of Orpheus and Eurydice for his garden. The late Baroque-styled pieces were finished in 1777. That same year, the statues were displayed at the Feast of the Ascension in San Marco Square.

Orpheus, www.wikipedia.org

In 1779, Canova opened up his own studio. Around this time, Pietro Pisani commissioned Canova to create a marble statue of Daedalus and Icarus. The work Canova did was praised.

Theseus and the Minotaur, www.wikipedia.org

Canova traveled to Rome in 1780 and spent approximately seventeen years there studying the works of Michelangelo and produced many commissioned works. In 1781, he was hired by Girolamo Zulian, the Venetian ambassador to Rome to create Theseus and the Minotaur. The statue portrays the mythical king sitting on the dead body of the creature. This piece currently resides at the Victoria & Albert Museum. Before moving to Vienna in 1797, Canova also created a funerary monument dedicated to Clement XIV for the Church of Santi Apostoli(1783-87), produced a self-portrait sculpture in 1790, another funerary monument but for Clement VIII for St. Peter's Basilica in 1792, began works such as Cupid and Psyche, Hebe, The Penitent Magdalene and more. He also began a project in dedication to Titian in 1790 however, that was abandoned in 1795. Canova also began working with paint more.

Cupid and Psyche, www.louvre.fr

The Penitent Magdalane, www.commons.wikimedia.org

After only spending a year in Vienna, he returned to his hometown of Possagno for a year.

In 1800 and for the next fifteen years, Canova spent a lot time in France and England. In 1802, he was given the job as 'Inspector-General of Antiquities and Fine Art of the Papal State,' a former position of non-other than Raphael. Between 1803-1809, Napoleon was Canova's biggest patron. Canova produced works such as Venus Victrix and Napoleon as Mars the Peacemaker.

Napoleon as Mars the Peacemaker, www.ageofrevolution.org

In 1808, Canova became a member of the Royal Institute of the Netherlands.

In 1814, he began his piece The Three Graces and in 1815, Canova went to London to meet with painter Benjamin Haydon.

The Three Graces, www.wikipedia.org

Canova returned to Italy in 1816. Two years before going back to Italy, Canova proposed he do a statue of Religion for St. Peter's Basilica. However, that was reject and he decided to build is own temple to house it. That project came to be known as the Tempio Canoviano, a Roman church located in his hometown. It was completed in 1836.

Tempio Canoviano, www.marcadoc.com

In 1819, he produced Venus Italica as a replacement for the Venus de' Medici. In 1820, Canova created a statue of George Washington for North Carolina. Recommended by Jefferson, Canova used Giuseppe Ceracchi's marble bust of Washington as his model. The statue was sent on Christmas Eve in 1821. However, the statue was destroyed in a fire at the North Carolina State House in 1831. In 1910, the king of Italy sent a replica which is now residing at the North Carolina Museum of History.

Venus Italica, www.metmuseum.org

George Washington, www.wikipedia.org

In 1822, he traveled to Naples to oversee the construction of wax moulds for an equestrian statue of Ferdinand VII. The journey was difficult for him and it took a toll on his health. Eventually he became healthy enough to return to Rome and from there, he went to Venice. However, his time there was minimal as he died on October 13th that year. The day before he died, Canova told his brother to use his entire estate to finish the Tempio. His body was placed there on October 25th. Canova's heart and right hand where stored elsewhere. His heart at the Basilica di Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari and his hand at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Venezia. He was sixty-four.

Four years later, Giovanni Battista Sartori sold Canova's studio and took every plaster model and sculpture to have them installed at the Tempio with Canova.

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