Antonio Canova, the famous sculptor who was the protagonist of the neoclassical age, glorified still alive as the new Phidias, modeled in 1813 two terracotta portraits of Juliette Récamier, the splendid and very rich Parisian whose cultural salon was celebrated, which was opened also to the Italian artist. The lady did not like the works, and the artist, deeply resentful, changed hands on one of the two models only after four years and changed it into a Dantesque Beatrice, in homage to the Tuscan poet whose 500th anniversary was celebrated in 1821. The work in question recovers the face of Beatrice as it is known in another version of the subject, which like this one is characterized by the bold shape of the sloping veil in soft folds and with a strong formal impact: for sculptures like these, Canova envisaged a vision by candlelight only, placed in such a way as to caress the beautiful face of the effigy with the moving flame, to further increase its suggestion. It is well understood, in front of works like this, the influence that the cultured and frozen art of the great sculptor of Possagno exerted on all of Europe.