Antonio Canova

Antonio Canova, “Psyche Revived by Cupid’s Kiss”, Detail, 1787, Marble, Louvre Museum, Paris

“Psyche Revived by Cupid’s Kiss” is a marble sculpture by Italian artist Antonio Canova, who was raised by his stonemason grandfather, Pasino Canova. Antonio Canova valued his independence as an artist, believing that art was above politics. However, through pressure by the French on the papacy, he was forced to accept titles and honors.

The marble sculpture is in a Neoclassical style but shows characteristics of the then emerging Romantic movement. There were two versions of this piece; the image shown being the prime version, which was acquired by Joachim Murat, Marshal of France and Admiral of France under the reign of Napoleon. After Murat’s death, the sculpture entered the Louvre Museum in 1824.

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Antonio Canova

Antonio Canova, “The Sleeping Endymion”, 1822, Plaster Model for the Completed Marble Sculpture

In May 1819, the 6th Duke of Devonshire, on his first trip to Rome, paid a visit to the studio of the most celebrated sculptor of the time, Antonio Canova. He marvelled at what he saw and commissioned a marble statue from Canova, leaving both its size and subject to the sculptor to decide, and paying a deposit in advance.

The marble was roughed out by 1822, when Canova asked for a further £1,500. It was completed before his death later that year. It arrived in London the following year and caused a stir when first displayed at Devonshire House. The 6th Duke, who regarded it as his greatest sculptural treasure, also commissioned a large bronze copy of it from the sculptor Francis Chantrey.

The finished marble “The Sleeping Endymion and His Dog” is located in the Sculpture Gallery of Chatsworth House in Derbyshire, England.

Source: hadrian6

Antonio Canova

Antonio Canova, Head of Napoleon Bonaparte, 1803-1806, Marble

In 1802 Antonio Canova (1757-1822) sculpted a bust and statue of the first consul of France, Napoleon Bonaparte. The Italian sculptor, whose works emulated the greatest images from the ancient world, was to return several times to his subject and produced a number of portraits in marble and bronze.

This colossal bust of the conqueror of Europe remained in Canova’s bedroom in his Rome house until his death in 1822. Afterwards it was purchased by the 6th Duke of Devonshire’s friend, Anne, Marchioness of Abercorn (d. 1827), who left it in her will to the Duke.

The Duke considered that this bust was the only authentic one of Napoleon carved by Canova himself. It was made from his model for the colossal full-length nude statue of Napoleon as Mars the Peacemaker commissioned, but later rejected, by Napoleon. The statue is now in Apsley House, the London home of the Duke of Wellington. The 6th Duke placed this bust in the centre of the Sculpture Gallery at Chatsworth, facing a bust of the great conqueror from Antiquity, Alexander the Great.