A bas-relief located in the Gypsotheca above, on the left wall, depicts two young bodies soaring through the air. Surrounding them is an absolute void. Only wide, fluttering ribbons adorn their faces, creating a large circle behind them. On both sides, two groups of young men and women cheer for the exaltation of the movement of the sons of Alcinoo, the king of the Phaeacians. Spectators serve as a backdrop to the scene unfolding against an infinite neutral background. What lightness in that leap! The two youths, on their toes, launch into a series of lifts and joyful steps, supporting themselves on their legs to capture the attention of the spectators, particularly the hero of all wars: Odysseus. Alcinoo wants the skill of the two young men to be admired and for a judgment to be expressed on their dance.
Canova aims to give value to the action of dance, which is crowned by this bas-relief representation as an art par excellence, through which one can express their sensitivity, feelings, and the profound joy of revealing oneself to oneself and to others. The inspiration comes from music, the movements follow an inner rhythm, and each of them is capable of evoking an intense vibration.
On the ground lies a ball, a manifestation of the Greek myth of the mathematical beauty of the universe and, as a sphere, a representation of the temporality of action. Just as Homer knew how to narrate by describing figures, movements, and emotions, so Canova represents Alcinoo and Queen Arete welcoming Odysseus and the beautiful Nausicaa in the group on the right.
Dance can be an expression linked to the traditions of primitive peoples, or it can become a simple pastime; it is always accompanied by music and song. In all cases, Canova was aware that he could assert that dance constitutes a language, a way to communicate, thanks to its ritual, solemn, festive expressiveness. Thus, the theme of dance leans towards Canova’s sculptural culture, as can also be seen in the second bas-relief created in 1797: The Graces and Venus dance before Mars. Here too, dance and music, in stable equilibrium, intertwine, creating an idyllic atmosphere in which the individual characters live with their own light.
The Three Dancers
Between 1806 and 1812, Canova focused on three plastic inventions related to the theme of dance, studying their development in temperas and, at least for some, in monochromes. The sculptor was accustomed to representing joyful expressions and personifications of serene states of mind; he was fascinated by the lightness and grace expressed through movement. He thus produced drawings, temperas, and monochromes, true projects destined for realizations in plaster and, subsequently, in marble, a material that ended up ‘breathing’ through the transparency and lightness of the gestures and movements of his representations.
In the three dancers: Dancer with Hands on Hips, Dancer with Finger on Chin, and Dancer with Cymbals, Canova demonstrated remarkable skill in engaging and impressing the audience, drawing on many classical figures, one of which is the Dancer from Villa Adriana.
Quatremère de Quincy enthusiastically communicated to Canova the extraordinary success that the Dancer with Hands on Hips, sculpted for Empress Joséphine de Beauharnais, who had desired to own a statue by Canova since 1802, had achieved at the Salon in Paris at the beginning of 1813, comforting him about the lukewarm reception reserved instead for Tersicore, the statue favored by the illustrious sculptor: “It had an immense encounter: there was a crowd in the first days that you cannot believe […]. The Dancer drives everyone crazy.”
An extremely positive judgment pronounced by Quatremère de Quincy, for whom the dancers were “poetic digressions,” quite different from the ‘masterpieces’ inspired by classical art, which he preferred because they were more sustained and expressive, and because they placed the Venetian sculptor in competition with the ancient.
In these sculptures, Canova manifests a primary interest and passion for dance and theater, precisely at a moment when these two artistic expressions were undergoing a radical transformation, directing them towards a careful analysis of classicism that translated, in figurative art, in a renewed and invigorated manner. They also confirm a particular state of mind of the sculptor who lives in a complex historical juncture, aggravated by a particularly difficult personal situation. It was not the specific iconographies that interested him, but the disposition towards a simple yet complete ideation, even distant from literary schemes. The three dancers act alone, moving individually; they are not placed next to other figures; they are independent.
