This year marks the bicentennial of the death of Antonio Canova, Italian sculptor and foremost among the representatives of neoclassicism.
We take this opportunity to recommend five museums in Italy where you can find the works of Antonio Canova.
The Graces at the Canova Museum in Possagno
The Canova Museum in Possagno is dedicated to the great sculptor.
Here you can find the three Graces by Antonio Canova, a true masterpiece of neoclassical art and one of the artist’s most celebrated works. The piece was commissioned by Empress Joséphine de Beauharnais, one of the main patrons of the sculptor.
Canova depicts three maidens, daughters of Zeus and Oceanid Eurynome: Aglaia, the embodiment of splendor, Euphrosyne of joy and delight, and Thalia, representing prosperity.
The motif of the three nude female figures embracing was revisited multiple times by Canova in his works. This group translates into sculpture the idea of ‘grace’ understood not merely as a category of bodily beauty, but rather as a quality of spirit and feeling.
The three sisters are similar in physiognomy, draped in a cloth, and reflect the ideals of beauty sought by neoclassical artists. They do not direct their attention to the viewer but are engaged in exchanging intimate, loving, mutual, and reserved glances. The lines are flowing and soft, perfectly studied, and the goddesses seem to be conversing with one another.
Hercules and Lica at the National Gallery of Modern and Contemporary Art in Rome
The National Gallery of Modern and Contemporary Art in Rome has in its permanent collection “Hercules and Lica“, commissioned from the artist by Onorato Gaetano, Prince of Aragon, in 1795.
The sculptural group of Hercules and Lica depicts the hero at a moment of maximum muscular tension, as he strikes against Lica, guilty of bringing him the robe soaked in the poisoned blood of Nessus.
The twisting of the two naked bodies releases a great intensity energy, which reaches its peak in the desperate scream of the child and in the furious features of Hercules, framed by a thick curly beard and completely naked, except for the veil that covers his muscles.
The Penitent Magdalene at Palazzo Bianco in Genoa
The Penitent Magdalene, considered one of the masterpieces of the artist’s early maturity, was created between 1794 and 1796, despite bearing the inscription on the back “Canova Rome 1790.”
It is now housed at Palazzo Bianco in Genoa.
In this work, Canova carves the marble, shaping the material to its utmost possibilities: from the extreme smoothness of Magdalene’s body to the rough treatment of the base on which she is placed.
The statue, whose history has been marked by continuous travels to and from Paris, enjoyed immense success during the Romantic era, also thanks to the sensual aspect of its figure. Its success was so great that even Stendhal praised it.
Having passed through the hands of several illustrious owners, the Penitent Magdalene finally arrived in Genoa in 1889 as a legacy from Maria Brignole – Sale de Ferrari, widow of its last owner, Raffaele De Ferrari, Duke of Genoa.
Ebe at the Gallery of Modern Art in Milan
Also in Milan, at the Gallery of Modern Art, it is possible to admire a statue of Canova.
This is Ebe, whose plaster is the original model from which Canova derived the marble intended for Giuseppe Giacomo Albrizzi – now preserved at the National Gallery in Berlin – and the one purchased in 1802 by Josephine de Beauharnais, currently at the Hermitage in St. Petersburg.
Ebe is the Daughter of Zeus and Hera. In mythology, she was the goddess of youth and cupbearer to the gods.
In Canova’s work, she is still a young girl, with immature forms, portrayed as she leans on a cloud of Olympus pouring nectar and ambrosia, with a forward movement that makes the fabric cling to her body, crumpling it into jagged contours at the back.
Maria Luigia of Austria as Concordia at the National Gallery of Parma – Monumental Complex of the Pilotta
Canova was invited to Paris to create the portrait of Napoleon’s new bride, Maria Luigia of Austria.
The statue of Maria Luigia of Austria, now preserved at the National Gallery in Parma, depicts the queen in the guise of Concordia, solemnly seated on a throne, in royal attire, with a royal diadem, scepter, and patera.
The statue of Maria Luigia of Austria was completed in 1814, but the fall of the Napoleonic Empire prevented its transport to Paris, where it was destined.
Maria Luigia was able to take possession of it only in 1817, deciding to place it in the royal palace of Colorno.
Years later, in 1848, Archduke Leopold of Austria – her heir – donated it to the city, so that it could be placed in the niche of the Gallery that the queen had arranged in the Palazzo della Pilotta, where it can still be admired today.
