Diploma Lecture Series 2013 Revolution to Romanticism: European Art and Culture 1750-1850

Icy Perfection: Antonio Canova and Neoclassical Sculpture

Brian Ladd

24 / 25 April 2013

Lecture summary:

The Italian sculptor Antonio Canova worked for patrons as eminent as the Pope, Napoleon, the Austrian Habsburgs and the Most Serene Republic of Venice. It is surprising then that this once celebrated artist is largely ignored today.

Is it simply a case of an individual artist being out of fashion? Or was an entire art movement discredited for most of the twentieth century, with neoclassical art falling victim to the changing avant-garde?

This lecture will explore the development of neoclassical sculpture in Europe during the late 18th century and early 19th century. It will examine how this art came to be associated with political power and authority. A focus will be on the outstanding oeuvre of Antonio Canova (1757-1822), undoubtedly the leading exponent of this movement. Other sculptors will also be discussed, including Jean-Antoine Houdon (French 1741- 1828); Bertel Thorvaldsen (Danish 1770-1844); Johann Gottfried Schadow (Prussian 1764-1850), and (English 1755-1826).

Slide list: N.B. Sculptures are made of marble unless otherwise stated.

1. Hugh Douglas Hamilton, Antonio Canova in his studio with artist Henry Tresham 2. and a plaster model of ‘Psyche revived by Cupid’s kiss’. 1788-91, pastel on paper, V & A Museum 3. Antonio Canova, Self-portrait, 1790, oil on canvas, Uffizi Museum, Florence 4. Giuseppe Bernardi, St. Matthew, St. Mark, St. Luke and St. John, c. 1750s, terracotta, Birmingham Museum of Art, Alabama 5. Giovanni Antonio Canaletto, Piazza di San Marco, c. 1742-46, oil on canvas, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Gift of James Fairfax AO 1996 6. Canova, Orpheus and Eurydice, 1773-76, Vicentine stone, Museo Correr, Venice 7. Canova, Daedalus and Icarus, 1777-79, Museo Correr 8. Canova, Theseus and the Minataur, 1781-83, Victoria and Albert Museum, London 9. Graeco-Roman, Belvedere Torso, 1st century BC, Vatican Museums,

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10. Polykleitos, Doryphoros, 5t h century BC Greek – Roman copy, National Museum of Archaeology, Naples 11. Gian-Lorenzo Bernini, Sepulchral monument of Pope Urban VIII. 1628-47, polychrome marble with gilded bronze highlights, St. Peter’s Basilica, Rome 12. Canova, The Tomb of Pope Clement XIV, 1783-92, Basilica dei Santi Apostoli, Rome 13. Canova, The Tomb of Pope Clement XIII, 1787-92, St. Peter’s Basilica 14. 13. Francesco Chiarottini, Antonio Canova’s studio on Via San Giacomo, Rome. c.1786,pen and ink and wash on paper, Museo Civico, Udine 15. Francesco Carradori, How to reproduce a plaster model in marble. 1802, Florence 16. *15. Canova, Psyche revived by Cupid’s kiss, 1787-93, The Louvre, Paris 17. Canova, Struggle. 1787, bozzetto for Psyche revived by Cupid’s kiss, terracotta, Museo Correr 18. *17. Canova, Paolina Borghese as Venus Victrix, 1804-08, Villa Borghese, Rome 19. Raffaello Morghen, A Faun and a Bacchante, after an ancient Roman painting from Herculaneum, Naples. c. 1780, engraving, Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Paris 20. Canova, Bust of Napoleon, 1802-10, Palazzo Pitti, Florence 21. Graeco-Roman, Apollo Belvedere, AD 2nd Century, Vatican Museums 22. *21. Canova, Tomb of Archduchess Maria Christina of Austria, 1798-1805, Augustinerkirche, 23. Canova, Three Graces, 1813-16, Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg 24. *23. Bertel Thorvaldsen, Graces and Amor, 1817-18, Thorvaldsen Museum, Copenhagen 25. H. D. C. Martens, Pope Leo XII visiting Thorvaldsen’s studio on St. Luke’s Day, 1826. 1830, oil on canvas, Thorvaldsen Museum, Copenhagen 26. Thorvaldsen, The Tomb of Pope Pius VII, 1824-25, St Peter’s Basilica 27. Jean-Antoine Houdon, Écorché, 1767, Plaster 28. *27. Houdon, Bust of Denis Diderot, 1771, The Louvre 29. Johann Gottfiried Schadow, Princesses Louise and Frederica of , 1797, Charlottenburg Palace, 30. John Flaxman, Monument to Horatio, Lord Nelson, 1808-1818, St. Paul’s Cathedral, London 31. John Gibson, Narcissus, c. 1830, Art Gallery of New South Wales 32. Thomas Lawrence, Portrait of Antonio Canova, 1815-18, oil on canvas, Casa Canova, Passagno 33. Monument to Antonio Canova, Basilica de Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari, Venice 34. Tempio Canovanio, Passagno 35. Gipsoteca Canovanio, Passagno

Reference:

1. Antonio Canova, Ed. Giuseppe Pavanello & Giandomenico Romanelli. Pub. Marsilio, Italy, 1992

2. Canova, Fred Licht, Pub. Abbeville, NY, 1983 (Available in the Art Gallery research library)

3. Nineteenth Century Sculpture, H. W. Janson, Pub. Thames and Hudson, London, 1985 (Available in the Art Gallery research library)

Canova, Psyche revived by Cupid’s kiss, 1787-93, The Louvre, Paris

Canova, Paolina Borghese as Venus Victrix, 1804-08, Villa Borghese, Rome

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