Antonio Canova
The Seven Last Works
January 22–April 27, 2014
Antonio
Canova (1757–1822), the greatest of all Neoclassical sculptors, remains
famous above all for the elegant nude mythological subjects that he
carved exquisitely in marble. He also worked in a deeply serious,
deceptively simple style. This less familiar Canova is revealed in an
extraordinary series of full-scale plaster models illustrating episodes
from the Old and New Testaments. Such models, used to review his
compositions before they were transferred into stone, were a distinctive
feature of his sculptural practice. These Biblical scenes were made in
connection with a project for thirty-two low reliefs that were to adorn
the Tempio Canoviano, the church he built for his home town Possagno,
which later became the artist's mausoleum. He completed only seven
models before his death.
Six of the reliefs come from the Gallerie dell'Accademia in Venice, and one from the Gipsoteca in Possagno. Newly restored, they will be lent for the first time to the United States. Drawing inspiration from ancient sculpture and early Renaissance masters, the models are striking for the marked linearity of the figures, arranged in brilliantly syncopated compositions. They constitute Canova's last, profoundly moving masterworks.
Six of the reliefs come from the Gallerie dell'Accademia in Venice, and one from the Gipsoteca in Possagno. Newly restored, they will be lent for the first time to the United States. Drawing inspiration from ancient sculpture and early Renaissance masters, the models are striking for the marked linearity of the figures, arranged in brilliantly syncopated compositions. They constitute Canova's last, profoundly moving masterworks.
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amalia di Lanno
