Antonio Canova (Canova Antonio)

(1757-1822)
Polished, impeccably clean white surface makes statues of Canova some abstract and cold, despite the noted by subtle details and accurate transmission of the anatomical structures of the body and draperies. This feeling of detachment is present even in the most sensible of their subject of works of the sculptor, such as Cupid and Psyche (1783-1793, Louvre). Canova created compositions on mythological subjects, portraits and gravestones. Among his works: the statue of Perseus (1801, . Vatican, . Museum Pio-Clementino), . several portraits of Napoleon, . portrait of George Washington in Roman armor, . Paolina Borghese in the image of Venus (1805-1807, . Rome, . Museum and Gallery Borghese), . gravestones Popes Clement XIII (1783-1792, . Rome, . ST,
. Peter) and Clement XIV (1783-1787, Rome, the Church of Santi Apostoli).
Canova was born on November 1, 1757 in Possagno near Treviso, in Venice, he studied at the sculptor Dzh.Torretti. One of the most successful works of the early period of the master's - a marble sculpture of the Daedalus and Icarus, made in the then fashionable rococo. Then the sculptor went to study ancient art in Rome and Naples, and in 1781 he settled permanently in Rome. Here he joined a group of artists and connoisseurs of ancient culture, whose work and research contributed to the emergence of a new artistic direction, based on the imitation of classical antiquity. Canova's first work, performed in this style, later known as classicism - Theseus and the Minotaur (1781-1783, London, Victoria and Albert Museum). It was followed by a tombstone of Pope Clement XIV, who brought the author fame and to uphold the classical style in sculpture.

Canova's customers were the Pope, kings and wealthy collectors. Since 1810, he served as director of the Academy of St.. Luke in Rome. In recent years, built a life master of your own museum in Possagno, where he kept plaster models of his sculptures. Canova died in Venice on Oct. 13, 1822.