The sculpture Venus and Adonis was created by Antonio Canova between 1789 and 1794, commissioned by the Marquis Francesco Berio, who placed it in a small temple expressly made in the garden of his palace in Naples. On the death of the Marquis, the work was purchased at the suggestion of Canova himself by Colonel Guillaume Favre. It is currently located in Geneva at the Musée d’Art et d’Histoire. The artist, once again, chooses a subject belonging to Greek mythology. Adonis, the result of the incestuous union between Myrrh and his father Cinira, was born from the shrub into which the mother had been transformed, condemned to eternal pain. Growing up, the young man achieved such a rare beauty that even Venus fell in love with him. The passion of the boy, who grew up in the woods, has always been hunting and despite the constant warnings of his beloved, he did not give up on it. It is said that the goddess tried in every way to dissuade him, to save him from danger, to defend him from the attack of wild beasts. But, as prophesied, a boar, during a hunting trip, bit him and killed him. The moment chosen by the artist is that of the farewell, which will turn out to be the foretold and last goodbye, the instant before the atrocious destiny is fulfilled. It is not the moment of maximum pathos of the story, but the one that anticipates it, thus creating, according to the neoclassical canons, a state of absolute rigor and balance. The work can be considered his masterpiece in the "delicate and gentle" genre, in which Winckelmann's conception of grace and ideal beauty, endorsed by the artist, is expressed to the highest degree. The predominant figure of the sculptural group is the male one, taller, on which Venus rests as if it were a column. The dart that the protagonist holds with his right hand is the one he will use to face the beast, even if in the myth it is not specified which weapon it really was. His expression is dominated by a slight melancholy, but also by a faint smile as if he wanted to reassure the goddess by holding her with a tender hug. Venus is completely stripped of her divine being and is perceived as a mere human creature. She is a woman worried by the presentiment of what might happen, immersed in a sense of protection that manifests itself in a very sweet and delicate caress on the face of the beloved. The dog at their feet, rendered with singular naturalistic perspicuity, recalls hunting. Its rough coat creates a sharp contrast with the smooth skin of the two characters. A scene outside myth and stardom, therefore, belonging to earthly love.

The Graces are the masterpiece of the entire neoclassical movement, as well as one of the most celebrated works of Antonio Canova, mainly due to the feeling of amazement that is felt at the sight of three female figures rendered to life size and carved from a single block of marble. The group was requested by the Empress Joséphine de Beauharnais, one of the main patrons of Canova. Her personal history saw her first marry Alexandre Beauharnais, but it was her second marriage to Napoleon that made her famous. In fact, he died in 1815, so it was his son Eugène who enjoyed the enchanting beauty of the work, which is now in the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg. While Canova was still intent on the first variant, John Russel, 6th Duke of Bedford, arrived in Rome in December 1814. The plaster model impressed him so much that he commissioned a replica. Now the masterpiece has become the shared heritage of the Victoria & Albert Museum in London and the National Galleries of Scotland in Edinburgh. The two versions differ only in the shape of the column. In the language of the nude, the one congenial and favorite to him, Canova represented these three girls, daughters of Zeus and of the goddess Oceanina Eurynome. Their names are Aglaia, embodiment of splendor, Eufrosine of joy and gladness, and Talia representing prosperity. Due to ancient iconography, the motif of the three naked and embraced female figures, often associated with Venus, was repeatedly taken up by Canova in his works. In fact, there are several drawings and tempera, a monochrome, a painting, but above all a plaster bas-relief, indicative of his interpretative thought. The innovative desire to portray the three figures differently from the previous and classic representations was becoming evident. This group translates the idea of 'grace' into sculpture, understood not so much as a category of bodily beauty, but rather as a quality of spirit and feeling. The three sisters, surrounded by a cloth, perfectly respond to the canons of ideal beauty sought by neoclassical artists. They are joined in a graceful dance or in a round dance and reach a perfect degree of balance. They resemble each other a lot both in their hairstyle and in their features and are united in a tender closed embrace, intertwined, as if they were a single entity. They also follow a pattern of intimate, loving, mutual and reserved gazes, excluding the viewer. There is a subtle play of supple and soft lines, of reciprocal gestures, slow and studied, of almost whispered words in a harmonious composition. On the left stands a stele, almost hidden by the figure on the left, on which three wreaths of flowers rest, which cleverly acts as a support base for the three subjects. We are witnessing what Quatremère de Quincy called "the visible changes of an abstract quality" through "the ingenious and new embrace of three female figures who, from whatever side they are considered, turning around, always show different, a variety of positions, forms, outlines, ideas and affects ingeniously nuanced ». This sculpture expresses the most profound meaning and essence of the thought elaborated within the neoclassical culture, representing in an exemplary way the idea of beauty dropped into a perfect and self-contained form.

The two protagonists competed at the Nemei games, that is the competitions that brought together athletes from all the cities of Greece every two years in the polis of Nemea: Creugante da Durazzo and Damosseno di Siracusa. Not being a winner, it was decided that each of the two remaining antagonists could deliver a single blow to the opponent and thus conclude the grueling duel. The former threw a punch, while the latter, pretending to give his rival a blow on the head, struck him with cruel force in the side, extracting his entrails and causing his death. The treacherous blow was punished with exile by the horrified judges, while a memorial statue was erected for the defeated in the temple of Jupiter Liceo in Arcadia. Creugante is firmly planted on his legs apart, he holds his right arm with his fist closed above his head, waiting for the opponent's blow. Almost instinctively she prepares for the answer and lends him her side. Damossenus protects his chest with his left arm, as if he wants to shield himself from it. The right hand is open and outstretched like a blade to deliver the killing blow. Its appearance is particularly brutal and aggressive. The look transmits inhumanity and ferocity; a violent, ruthless expression and a manifest hatred are drawn on the face. The statues are made according to muscular tensions of considerable plastic suggestion, enclosing in the pose a decisive and snappy physical energy and a typical grandeur of athletes. In fact, it is perceptible a pleased desire to show off a perfectly acquired anatomical science, the result of a daily graphic exercise halfway between private pleasure and severe discipline. Conceived in the same period in which the sculptor conceived the group of Hercules and Lica, the Pugilatori belong to the phase of maximum expressive tension in Canova's production, arriving at unprecedented solutions of heroism and titanic celebration of strength. Avoiding any suspended fixity of action, typical of classical art, he tried to represent the instantaneous act, synthesizing a conceptual and gestural complexity in a single image. Plaster casts of Creugante were sent by the artist to the main academies of Europe so that connoisseurs and amateurs of fine arts could admire and evaluate, according to the sculptor's words, one of his "works of stronger character, since so far they have not seen any a sweet and delicate style ». Conceived without commission, it was then purchased by Pope Pius VII in 1801 for the Vatican Museums (hence the inscription at the base "CVRA PII VII") to compensate for the void left by the ancient masterpieces brought to France by the armies. The statue of Damossenus, on the other hand, was commissioned by the papal government after the purchase of his companion, to be placed next to him in 1806.

Antonio Canova - Theseus winner of the Centaur

Theseus on the Minotaur is a sculptural work created by Antonio Canova between 1781 and 1783 and the marble version is currently exhibited in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. Theseus is sitting on his opponent in an act of triumph: he is holding the club with which he knocked down the biform being. The Minotaur is outstretched and bloodless: he lies lifeless, in an unnatural pose. This is considered as the first work in which Canova wanted to associate the study of nature with the observations made in Rome on classical works; for the history of art it is a turning point. The change of style consists precisely in the synthesis of the beauty of nature with the ideal beauty, the key to neoclassicism. The comparison of this work with the last work of the Venetian period "Daedalus and Icarus" makes the change more effective: father and son are represented through a notable attention to expressive, real and human data. On the other hand, with Theseus and the Minotaur, the search for an idealized and perfect beauty worthy of a Greek hero stands out, which is achieved only thanks to Canova's studies on proportions and the human figure. In Theseus we recognize a “placid physiognomy, worthy of a hero who nobly takes pleasure in having won, which is of no great importance to him; the character of the Minotaur is in contrast to that of Theseus, and is in harmony with the whole of the work "TO CONTINUE THE SEARCH: Theseus, hero of Attica and son of the Athenian king Aegean, was famous for his sensitivity and his force. His father decided to test him from an early age, hiding his sandals and sword under a massive rock. Only when the boy was able to lift the stone block and take back his belongings could he go to Athens and become king of the city. At sixteen his mother took him to the appointed place and Theseus passed the test effortlessly and with pride. Once he took his father's place, however, he realized an unpleasant truth: every year his city was forced to deliver 14 young Athenians (7 boys and 7 girls) to the Minotaur. This monstrous beast was locked in a very complicated labyrinth created by Daedalus on the island of Crete and ate only on the bodies of poor people who had been ill. Theseus wanted to attempt the incredible feat of facing the Minotaur to free his homeland from the nightmare that oppressed it. So he prepared the expedition and trained with the heaviest weapons, but only thanks to the cunning of the Cretan princess Ariadne was he able to be successful. In fact, she taught him that, in order not to lose the right way back, it was enough to unroll a ball of thread along the way. Listening to his words, Theseus accomplished the fearsome undertaking and his people were forever grateful to him.

The sculptural group represents the contrasting and passionate love story between the god Eros and the beautiful, but earthly, Psyche. The two versions of Cupid and Psyche were commissioned to Antonio Canova just thirty years old by the Scottish colonel John Campbell. The first, sold to Gioacchino Murat, who transferred it to the castle of Compiègne, is now in the Louvre Museum. The second, sold by the client to Josèphine de Beauharnais, wife of Napoleon, was finally bought by Tsar Alexander I of Russia, who took it to the Hermitage in St. Petersburg. The work refers to the story contained in Apuleius's Asinus aureus. The fable represents the allegory of the soul who, eager to discover what is deliberately hidden from her, disobeys the prohibition of the gods, who force her to suffer severe punishment and atone for the guilt. The story offered numerous interpretations and ideas of inspiration for artists of all eras, especially during the neoclassical period. Although the work is based on the representation of two distinct subjects, even physically and technically these are composed as a single body, close to themselves and united by a posture that communicates complicity and deep intimacy. The couple of teenagers are in an upright position with their heads down, while the posture of the legs suggests that they are getting closer to each other. Young people have a very similar face, little characterized and the expression of both is serene and relaxed. The girl is perfectly frontal and vaguely covered only by a skirt; the artist found for her the possibility of reusing the pose already studied and happily found. He assumes an attitude of gentle innocence and holds the hand of Love, on which a butterfly rests delicately, holding it by the wings with his fingers. The little creature illustrates Canova's sensitivity in dealing with marble, and is a symbol of the soul that the girl gives to her beloved, but also a representation of the fragility and brevity of life. The expressive center of the whole composition is, in fact, the exquisitely fragile play of the hands that caress and protect it. Amore is naked, sliding his arm along the girl's neck and placing his cheek tenderly on her shoulder. Cupid, as a child or amorino, recurs many times in Canova's production. There is no reference to where the subjects are, embracing in a timeless place. The purity of the modeling, suggesting the formal ideality of ancient sculptures, actually makes the work absolutely modern in conception and iconography. The beauty of the group gives off an almost incorporeal meaning so admiring this embrace between the girl and the god deprived of the usual wings, cut by Venus, "the observer is moved not by their physical perfection, but by the spiritual feeling that the author has blown inside ".

Antonio Canova - Theseus on the Minotaur

Antonio Canova - Dancer with hands on hips

Antonio Canova - Dancer with her finger to her chin

Antonio Canova - The Graces and Venus dance in front of Mars

Antonio Canova - Paolina Borghese Bonaparte as the winning Venus

Sculpted from a single block of pure Carrara marble, the statue of Paolina Bonaparte as the winning Venus emerges in the center of room 1 of the Galleria Borghese in Rome. Antonio Canova had begun to deal with the work as early as 1804, commissioned by Prince Camillo Borghese. Initially her husband placed her in Palazzo Chablais in Turin and chose a purely private destination for her. It was the year of the coronation of her brother, Napoleon Bonaparte, as emperor. The sculpture of the sister was to become one of the main symbols of the political rise of the Napoleonids in Europe. Some preparatory drawings testify that the artist had studied the subject and its possible compositions for a long time. Four of these are kept in the Archive Library Museum of Bassano del Grappa. The woman, at her personal request, was represented in the pose and attitude usually dedicated to Venus, the Greek goddess of Beauty. As the famous myth tells, through a sort of competition, Paris chose the most beautiful of the goddesses by rewarding her with a golden apple, the same one that Paolina holds in her left hand. Furthermore, the body and its pose reflect some ancient compositional models, especially from the Augustan period. The woman, in fact, is languidly lying on an agrippina, which is an elongated armchair equipped with a single armrest, on which she rests her right arm. The bust is erect and completely naked, while the lower part is half covered by a light dress, which makes the woman modest and sensual at the same time and loads the statue with a strong eroticism. In fact, the atmosphere of scandal that the hypothetical naked pose in the artist's studio aroused at the time is curious. The face is idealized, perfect in its concretization, and seems to look directly at the viewer who is admiring it. The divine features raise it outside of any earthly reality: it is returned to the human dimension only thanks to the presence of the bracelet on the right wrist, the ribbon on the hair and a special pink patina that Canova applied on the epidermal parts to imitate the color of the complexion. and give it a slight semblance of life. The richly detailed cushions and sofa are given a realistic and inviting softness as a whole, while the entire structure has a mechanism that allowed it to rotate. The plaster model, due to the bombings of the war that affected a large part of the collection, was beheaded, deprived of the right hand that was resting on the cheek, the fingers of the left hand and part of the left foot. In the autumn of 2003, thanks to the application of new technologies, with a computerized scan of the marble of Rome it was possible to reconstruct the missing parts, then proceeding to their reintegration.