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 17411828); Bertel Thorvaldsen (Danish 1770-1844); Johann Gottfried Schadow (Prussian
1764-1850), and John Flaxman (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, Rome
Proudly sponsored by
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, Vienna
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 Prussia, 1797,
Charlottenburg Palace, Berlin
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
Canova, Tomb of Archduchess Maria Christina of Austria, 1798-1805, Augustinerkirche, Vienna
v
Bertel Thorvaldsen, Graces and Amor, 1817-18, Thorvaldsen
Museum, Copenhagen
Houdon, Bust of Denis Diderot, 1771, The Louvre