Editing Antonio Canova (section)

==Life==

===Possagno===
[[File:Pinckney Marcius-Simons, The Child Canova Modeling a Lion Out of Butter, c 1885.png|thumb|250px|[[Pinckney Marcius-Simons]], ''[[The Child Canova Modeling a Lion out of Butter|The Child Canova Modeling a Lion Out of Butter]]'', c. 1885]]
In 1757, Antonio Canova was born in the [[Republic of Venice|Venetian Republic]] city of [[Possagno]] to Pietro Canova, a stonecutter, and Angela Zardo Fantolin.<ref name="DoA-5">{{harvnb|Turner|1996b}}.</ref>  In 1761, his father died. A year later, his mother remarried. As such, in 1762, he was put into the care of his paternal grandfather Pasino Canova, who was a [[stonemasonry|stonemason]], owner of a [[quarry]],<ref name="GoV" /> and was a "sculptor who specialized in altars with statues and low reliefs in late Baroque style".<ref name="DoA-5" /> He led Antonio into the art of sculpting.

Before the age of ten, Canova began making models in clay, and carving marble.<ref name="CA">{{harvnb|Handley|1908}}.</ref> Indeed, at the age of nine, he executed two small shrines of [[Carrara marble]], which are still extant.<ref name="EB1911">{{harvnb|Rossetti|1911|pp=204–206}}.</ref> After these works, he appears to have been constantly employed under his grandfather.<ref name="EB1911" />

===Venice===
[[File:Antonio canova, orfeo, 1777, 01.JPG|thumb|250px|right|''[[Orpheus]]'', 1777]]

In 1770,<ref name="DoA-5"/> he was an apprentice for two years<ref name="CA"/> to [[Giuseppe Bernardi]], who was also known as 'Torretto'. Afterwards, he was under the tutelage of [[Giovanni Ferrari (sculptor)|Giovanni Ferrari]] until he began his studies at the [[Accademia di Belle Arti di Venezia]].<ref name="DoA-5"/> At the academy, he won several prizes.<ref name="EB1911"/> During this time, he was given his first workshop within a monastery by some local monks.<ref name="CA"/>

The Senator Giovanni Falier commissioned Canova to produce statues of [[Orpheus]] and [[Eurydice]] for his garden – the Villa Falier at [[Asolo]].<ref name="wga.hu">{{cite web|url=http://www.wga.hu/html_m/c/canova/1/02orpheu.html|title=Eurydice by CANOVA, Antonio|work=wga.hu}}</ref> The statues were begun in 1775, and both were completed by 1777. The pieces exemplify the late [[Rococo style]].<ref name="wga.hu"/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wga.hu/html_m/c/canova/1/01orpheu.html|title=Orpheus by CANOVA, Antonio|website=wga.hu}}</ref> On the year of their completion, both works were exhibited for the [[Feast of the Ascension]] in [[Piazza San Marco]].<ref name="GoV"/> Widely praised, the works won Canova his first renown among the Venetian elite.<ref name="DoA-5"/> Another Venetian who is said to have commissioned early works from Canova was the abate [[Filippo Farsetti]], whose collection at [[Ca' Farsetti]] on the [[Grand Canal (Venice)|Grand Canal]] he frequented.

In 1779, Canova opened his own studio at Calle Del Traghetto at S. Maurizio.<ref name="GoV"/> At this time, [[Procurators of Saint Mark|Procurator]] Pietro Vettor Pisani commissioned Canova's first marble statue: a depiction of [[Daedalus]] and [[Icarus]].<ref name="GoV"/> The statue inspired great admiration for his work at the annual art fair;<ref name="wga.hu1">{{cite web|url=http://www.wga.hu/html_m/c/canova/1/1daedalu.html|title=Daedalus and Icarus by CANOVA, Antonio|work=wga.hu}}</ref> Canova was paid 100 [[Sequin (coin)|gold zecchini]] for the completed work.<ref name="GoV"/> At the base of the statue, Daedalus' tools are scattered about; these tools are also an allusion to Sculpture, of which the statue is a personification.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wga.hu/html_m/c/canova/1/1daedalx.html|title=Daedalus and Icarus by CANOVA, Antonio|website=wga.hu}}</ref> With such an intention, there is suggestion that Daedalus is a portrait of Canova's grandfather Pasino.<ref name="wga.hu1"/>

===Rome===
Canova arrived in [[Rome]], on 28 December 1780. Prior to his departure, his friends had applied to the [[Venetian Senate]] for a pension. Successful in the application, the stipend allotted amounted to three hundred ducats, limited to three years.<ref name="EB1911"/>

While in Rome, Canova spent time studying and sketching the works of [[Michelangelo]].<ref name="DoA-5"/>

[[File:Canova - Theseus & Minotaur.jpg|thumb|right|250px|''[[Theseus and the Minotaur (sculpture)|Theseus and the Minotaur]]'', [[Victoria and Albert Museum]], London]]

In 1781, [[Girolamo Zulian]] – the Venetian ambassador to Rome – hired Canova to sculpt [[Theseus and the Minotaur (sculpture)|''Theseus and the Minotaur'']].<ref name="wga.hu2">{{cite web|url=http://www.wga.hu/html_m/c/canova/1/2theseus.html|title=Theseus and the Minotaur by CANOVA, Antonio|work=wga.hu}}</ref> Zulian played a fundamental role in Canova's rise to fame,<ref name="Gangemi">{{cite book|title=La storia del Palazzo di Venezia dalle collezioni Barbo e Grimani a sede dell'ambasciata veneta e austriaca|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SOHMCgAAQBAJ|date=2015|publisher=[[:it:Gangemi Editore|Gangemi]]|location=Rome, Italy|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=SOHMCgAAQBAJ&dq=girolamo+zulian+collezione+palazzo+zulian&pg=PA60 60–61]|isbn=9788849293661}}</ref><ref name="Dandolo">{{cite book|last1=Dandolo|first1=Girolamo|title=La caduta della repubblica di Venezia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7noNAAAAQAAJ|date=1855|publisher=[[University of Oxford]]|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=7noNAAAAQAAJ&dq=famiglia+zulian+Venezia&pg=PA209 208–211]|isbn=9781841717913}}</ref> turning some rooms of his palace into a studio for the artist and placing his trust in him despite Canova's early critics in Rome.<ref name="Dandolo"/> The statue depicts the victorious [[Theseus]] seated on the lifeless body of a [[Minotaur]]. The initial spectators were certain that the work was a copy of a Greek original, and were shocked to learn it was a contemporary work.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/sculpture/antonio-canova.htm|title=Antonio Canova: Neoclassical Sculptor, Biography|work=visual-arts-cork.com}}</ref> The highly regarded work is now in the collection of the [[Victoria & Albert Museum]], in London.<ref name="wga.hu2"/>

Between 1783 and 1785, Canova arranged, composed, and designed a funerary monument dedicated to [[Clement XIV]] for the [[Church of Santi Apostoli]].<ref name="CA"/> After another two years, the work met completion in 1787. The monument secured Canova's reputation as the pre-eminent living artist.<ref name="EB1911"/>

In 1792, he completed another cenotaph, this time commemorating [[Clement XIII]] for [[St. Peter's Basilica]]. Canova harmonized its design with the older Baroque funerary monuments in the basilica.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wga.hu/html_m/c/canova/1/4clemenu.html|title=Tomb of Pope Clement XIII by CANOVA, Antonio|website=wga.hu}}</ref>

In 1790, he began to work on a funerary monument for [[Titian]], which was eventually abandoned by 1795.<ref name="DoA-5"/> During the same year, he increased his activity as a painter.<ref name="GoV"/> Canova was notoriously disinclined<ref name="Gangemi"/> to restore sculptures. However, in 1794 he made an exception for his friend and early patron Zulian, restoring a few sculptures that Zulian had moved from Rome to Venice.<ref name="Gangemi"/>

The following decade was extremely productive,<ref name="EB1911"/> beginning works such as ''Hercules and Lichas'', ''Cupid and Psyche'', ''Hebe'', ''Tomb of [[Maria Christina, Duchess of Teschen|Duchess Maria Christina of Saxony-Teschen]]'', and ''The Penitent Magdalene''.<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.wga.hu/html_m/c/canova/1/index.html |title=Sculptures until 1799 |website = wga.hu }}</ref>

In 1797, he went to [[Vienna]],<ref name="auto" /> but only a year later, in 1798, he returned to [[Possagno]] for a year.<ref name="EB1911" />{{NoteTag|''The Glory of Venice: Art in the Eighteenth Century'' states (p. 441) that Canova left Venice when it fell, tried to escape to America and then went to Possagno. The fall of Venice was in 1797. There appears to be some gap in knowledge that would correct or amend these accounts. The first reference to Vienna is an online source, the second is the ''Encyclopædia Britannica, 1911'' which has already proven itself incorrect in some areas. ''The Glory of Venice'' has proven itself more accurate, but it is undated, leaving speculation of time frame.}}

===France and England===
By 1800, Canova was the most celebrated artist in Europe.<ref name="DoA-5" /> He systematically promoted his reputation by publishing engravings of his works and having marble versions of plaster casts made in his workshop.<ref name="Batschmann">Oskar Batschmann, The Artist in the Modern World: A Conflict Between Market and Self-Expression. DuMont Bunchverlag, 1997. Print.</ref> He became so successful that he had acquired patrons from across Europe including [[French Consulate|France]], [[Kingdom of Great Britain|England]], [[Russian Empire|Russia]], [[Habsburg monarchy|Austria]] and [[Batavian Republic|Holland]], as well as several members from different royal lineages, and prominent individuals.<ref name="GoV" /> Among his patrons were [[Napoleon]] and his family, for whom Canova produced much work, including several depictions between 1803 and 1809.<ref name="DoA-22" /> The most notable representations were that of ''[[Napoleon as Mars the Peacemaker]]'', and ''[[Venus Victrix (Canova)|Venus Victrix]]'' which was portrayal of [[Pauline Bonaparte]].

''Napoleon as Mars the Peacemaker'' had its inception after Canova was hired to make a bust of Napoleon in 1802. The statue was begun in 1803, with Napoleon requesting to be shown in a French General's uniform, Canova rejected this, insisting on an allusion to [[Mars (mythology)|Mars]], the [[Roman mythology|Roman god]] of [[War]].<ref name="wga.hu3">{{cite web|url=http://www.wga.hu/html_m/c/canova/2/1mars.html|title=Napoleon as Mars the Peacemaker by CANOVA, Antonio|website=wga.hu}}</ref> It was completed in 1806.<ref name="wga.hu4">{{cite web|url=http://www.wga.hu/html_m/c/canova/2/2mars.html|title=Napoleon as Mars the Peacemaker by CANOVA, Antonio|website=wga.hu}}</ref> In 1811, the statue arrived in Paris, but not installed; neither was its bronze copy in the Foro Napoleonico in Milan.<ref name="wga.hu3"/> In 1815, the original went to [[Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington|the Duke of Wellington]], after his victory at [[Battle of Waterloo|Waterloo]] against Napoleon.<ref name="wga.hu4"/>

{{Blockquote|If one could make statues by caressing marble, I would say that this statue was formed by wearing out the marble that surrounded it with caresses and kiss|[[Joséphine de Beauharnais]] on the ''[[Venus Victrix (Canova)|Venus Victrix]]''<ref name="DoA-5"/>}}

[[File:John Jackson - Antonio Canova - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|''[[Portrait of Antonio Canova]]'' by [[John Jackson (painter)|John Jackson]], 1820]]
''[[Venus Victrix (Canova)|Venus Victrix]]'' was originally conceived as a robed and recumbent sculpture of [[Pauline Bonaparte|Pauline Borghese]] in the guise of [[Diana (mythology)|Diana]]. Instead, Pauline ordered Canova to make the statue a nude Venus.<ref name="wga.hu5">{{cite web|url=http://www.wga.hu/html_m/c/canova/2/3paolina.html|title=Paolina Borghese as Venus Victrix by CANOVA, Antonio|website=wga.hu}}</ref> The work was not intended for public viewing.<ref name="wga.hu5"/>

Other works for the Napoleon family include, a bust of Napoleon, a statue of Napoleon's mother, and [[Marie Louise, Duchess of Parma|Marie Louise]] as [[Concordia (mythology)|Concordia]].<ref name="CA"/>

In 1802, Canova was assigned the post of 'Inspector-General of Antiquities and Fine Art of the Papal State', a position formerly held by [[Raphael]].<ref name="GoV"/> One of his activities in this capacity was to pioneer the restoration of the [[Appian Way]] by restoring the tomb of Servilius Quartus.<ref>Paris, Rita, "Appia, una questione non risolta" in "La via Appia, il bianco e il nero di un patrimonio italiano." Electa. 2011</ref> In 1808 Canova became an associated member of the [[Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences|Royal Institute of Sciences, Literature and Fine Arts]] of the [[Kingdom of Holland]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dwc.knaw.nl/biografie/pmknaw/?pagetype=authorDetail&aId=PE00004542 |title=A. Canova (1757–1822) |publisher=Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences |access-date=5 October 2016}}</ref>

In 1814, he began his ''[[The Three Graces (Canova)|The Three Graces]]''.<ref name="CA"/>

In 1815, he was named 'Minister Plenipotentiary of the Pope,'<ref name="GoV"/> and was tasked by Pope Pius VI with recovering various works of art that were taken to Paris by [[Napoleon]] under the terms of the [[Treaty of Paris (1815)]].<ref name="EB1911"/> At the Louvre, he faced resistance to restitution from Director [[Vivant Denon]] and, due to the works' large size or unclear location, was forced to leave behind major pieces, such as [[Paolo Veronese]]'s painting ''[[The Wedding at Cana (Veronese)|The Wedding at Cana.]]''<ref>{{cite book |last1=Contarini |first1=Giovanni |title=Il Canova a Parigi nel 1815 |date=1891 |location=Feltre |page=32}}</ref> 

{{Blockquote|The works of Phidias are truly flesh and blood, like beautiful nature itself|Antonio Canova<ref name="GoV"/>}}

Also in 1815, he visited [[London]], and met with [[Benjamin Haydon]]. It was after the advice of Canova that the [[Elgin Marbles]] were acquired by the British Museum, with plaster copies sent to [[Florence]], according to Canova's request.<ref name="EB1911"/>

===Returning to Italy===
In 1816, Canova returned to Rome with some of the art Napoleon had taken. He was rewarded with several marks of distinction: he was appointed President of the [[Accademia di San Luca]], inscribed into the "Golden Book of Roman Nobles" by the Pope's own hands,<ref name="CA"/> and given the title of Marquis of [[Ischia]], alongside an annual pension of 3,000 crowns.<ref name="EB1911"/>

In 1819, he commenced and completed his commissioned work ''[[Venus Italica]]'' as a replacement for the [[Venus de' Medici]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wga.hu/html_m/c/canova/2/8venus.html|title=Venus Italica by CANOVA, Antonio|work=wga.hu}}</ref>

After his 1814 proposal to build a personified statue of Religion for [[St. Peter's Basilica]] was rejected, Canova sought to build his own temple to house it.<ref name="DoA-5"/> This project came to be the [[Tempio Canoviano]]. Canova designed, financed, and partly built the structure himself.<ref name="GoV"/> The structure was to be a testament to Canova's piety.<ref name="Batschmann"/> The building's design was inspired by combining the [[Parthenon]] and the [[Pantheon, Rome|Pantheon]] together.<ref name="GoV"/><ref name="CA"/> On 11 July 1819, Canova laid the foundation stone dressed in red Papal uniform and decorated with all his medals.<ref name="Batschmann"/> It first opened in 1830, and was finally completed in 1836.<ref name="Batschmann"/> After the foundation-stone of this edifice had been laid, Canova returned to Rome; but every succeeding autumn he continued to visit Possagno to direct the workmen and encourage them with rewards.<ref name="EB1911"/>

During the period that intervened between commencing operations at Possagno and his death, he executed or finished some of his most striking works. Among these were the group ''Mars and Venus'', the colossal figure of [[Pius VI]], the [[Pietà]], the ''St John'', and a colossal bust of his friend, the Count [[Leopoldo Cicognara]].<ref name="EB1911"/>

[[File:Canova-Washington.JPG|thumb|upright|right|''[[George Washington (Canova)|George Washington]]'', plaster replica on display at the [[North Carolina Museum of History]]]]

In 1820, he made a [[George Washington (Canova)|statue of George Washington]] for the state of [[North Carolina]].<ref name="auto">{{cite web|url=http://www.wga.hu/bio_m/c/canova/biograph.html|title=Biography of CANOVA, Antonio in the Web Gallery of Art|work=wga.hu}}</ref> As recommended by [[Thomas Jefferson]], the sculptor used the [[George Washington (Ceracchi)|marble bust of Washington]] by [[Giuseppe Ceracchi]] as a model.<ref name=gwunc>{{cite web|title=George Washington Sculpture, North Carolina State Capitol, Raleigh|date=19 March 2010 |url=http://docsouth.unc.edu/commland/monument/407/|publisher=[[University of North Carolina]]}}</ref> It was delivered on 24 December 1821. The statue and the [[North Carolina State House]] where it was displayed were later destroyed by fire in 1831. A plaster replica was sent by King [[Victor Emmanuel III of Italy]] in 1910, now on view at the [[North Carolina Museum of History]]. A marble copy was sculpted by [[Romano Vio]] in 1970, now on view in the rotunda of the [[North Carolina State Capitol|capitol building]].<ref name=gwunc/><ref>{{cite web|title=The Canova Statue|url=https://www.ncsu.edu/ligon/rt/canova/canova.htm|publisher=[[North Carolina State University]]}}</ref>

In 1822, he journeyed to Naples, to superintend the construction of wax moulds for an equestrian statue of [[Ferdinand VII]]. The adventure was disastrous to his health, but soon became healthy enough to return to Rome. From there, he voyaged to Venice; however, on 13 October 1822, he died there at the age of 64.<ref name="EB1911"/> As he never married, the name became extinct, except through his stepbrothers' lineage of Satori-Canova.<ref name="CA"/>

On 12 October 1822, Canova instructed his brother to use his entire estate to complete the Tempio in Possagno.<ref name="Batschmann"/>

On 25 October 1822, his body was placed in the Tempio Canoviano.<ref name="EB1911"/> His heart was interred at the [[Basilica di Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari]] in Venice, and his right hand preserved in a vase at the [[Accademia di Belle Arti di Venezia]].<ref name="DoA-5"/><ref name="Batschmann"/>

His memorial service was so grand that it rivaled the ceremony that the city of Florence held for Michelangelo in 1564.<ref name="Batschmann"/>

In 1826, Giovanni Battista [[Sartori of Vicenza|Sartori]] sold Canova's Roman studio and took every plaster model and sculpture to Possagno, where they were installed in the [[gypsotheque]] of the [[Tempio Canoviano]].<ref name="Batschmann"/>

[[file:(Venice) Commemorative plaque at the place of death of Antonio Canova.jpg|thumb|Commemorative plaque at the place of life and death of Antonio Canova, in ''Rio Orseolo o del Corval'']]