Page 1 / 2
Antonio Canova seemed to have been born into the artistic world. After the death of his father, he went into the care of his grandfather, both stonemasons. The latter introduced him to the art of sculpture. At the age of ten he already began to make models out of clay and marble. At the age of twelve, Canova apprenticed in Venice to Giuseppe Bernardi, already an important sculptor at the time, where he put the finishing touches on his skills. Within a few years, he graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Venice, where he won several awards and eventually opened his own studio. An anecdote says that at a dinner in noble company, Canova engraved the figure of a lion with outstretched wings in butter so close to reality that it astonished the guests present almost in disbelief.
Later, when he was intensively engaged in Italian and Greek mythology and the classics, Canova created numerous statues and sculptures in Rome, which today are highly regarded in the art world. It is not without reason that Canova is considered one of the main figures of Italian classicism and is sometimes hailed as the greatest sculptural genius since Michelangelo, whose works he himself greatly admired. His dancing, light-footed movements, feminist grace, and flowing, graceful forms made him an outstanding artist of his time. He was in some ways a perfectionist, as evidenced by the fact that he lit his works by candlelight at night to highlight their uniqueness and beauty in a mythical light and to impress guests and collaborators. The first visitors who saw his exquisite works were quite surprised that they were contemporary art and not original ancient masterpieces.
Because of his attained high reputation, many monarchs and princes brought him to their courts and Canova received commissions from all over Europe. However, he refused to go to the French imperial court as a leading sculptor. In his last years in Rome, he even traveled across the continent as a papal commissioner and, moreover, brought back to Italy the works of art that had been carried off during the Napoleonic Wars, which he succeeded in doing, after which the pope bestowed upon him the title of "Marquis of Ischia" in recognition. The esteem in which this extraordinary artist is held is also evident from the fact that his mortal remains are preserved in a parish church of his own design in his hometown of Possagno, and in Venice his heart is preserved in the Basilica di Santa Maria Gloriosa and his right hand in a vase in the Academy of Fine Arts.
Antonio Canova seemed to have been born into the artistic world. After the death of his father, he went into the care of his grandfather, both stonemasons. The latter introduced him to the art of sculpture. At the age of ten he already began to make models out of clay and marble. At the age of twelve, Canova apprenticed in Venice to Giuseppe Bernardi, already an important sculptor at the time, where he put the finishing touches on his skills. Within a few years, he graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Venice, where he won several awards and eventually opened his own studio. An anecdote says that at a dinner in noble company, Canova engraved the figure of a lion with outstretched wings in butter so close to reality that it astonished the guests present almost in disbelief.
Later, when he was intensively engaged in Italian and Greek mythology and the classics, Canova created numerous statues and sculptures in Rome, which today are highly regarded in the art world. It is not without reason that Canova is considered one of the main figures of Italian classicism and is sometimes hailed as the greatest sculptural genius since Michelangelo, whose works he himself greatly admired. His dancing, light-footed movements, feminist grace, and flowing, graceful forms made him an outstanding artist of his time. He was in some ways a perfectionist, as evidenced by the fact that he lit his works by candlelight at night to highlight their uniqueness and beauty in a mythical light and to impress guests and collaborators. The first visitors who saw his exquisite works were quite surprised that they were contemporary art and not original ancient masterpieces.
Because of his attained high reputation, many monarchs and princes brought him to their courts and Canova received commissions from all over Europe. However, he refused to go to the French imperial court as a leading sculptor. In his last years in Rome, he even traveled across the continent as a papal commissioner and, moreover, brought back to Italy the works of art that had been carried off during the Napoleonic Wars, which he succeeded in doing, after which the pope bestowed upon him the title of "Marquis of Ischia" in recognition. The esteem in which this extraordinary artist is held is also evident from the fact that his mortal remains are preserved in a parish church of his own design in his hometown of Possagno, and in Venice his heart is preserved in the Basilica di Santa Maria Gloriosa and his right hand in a vase in the Academy of Fine Arts.