From 15 October 2022 to 26 February 2023 the Civic Museums of Bassano del Grappa are hosting a new major exhibition dedicated to Antonio Canova , on the occasion of the official celebrations for the 200th anniversary of his death.

Considered by his contemporaries to be the greatest living artist, Antonio Canova was celebrated as the one who had brought sculpture back to those sublime peaks that were believed to belong only to classical statuary. Witness to a period of great historical and political upheavals, the humble stonemason from Possagno conquered the international art scene, competing with the greats of his time and contributing to the recovery of masterpieces through important diplomatic missions. Gifted with rare talent but also with an out of the ordinary artistic sensitivity, he became the protagonist of European cultural life indelibly marking the taste of the era in which he lived and worked. The man, the artist, the collector, the diplomat are the many aspects highlighted for the first time by this exhibition with which the Civic Museums of Bassano del Grappa , custodians of one of the largest and most extensive collections of Canova's works and documents. important in the world, pay homage to the greatest sculptor of the neoclassical era on the bicentenary of his death. About 140 works including sculptures, paintings, drawings and precious books, some of which presented to the public for the first time, guide the visitor on an ideal journey in the footsteps of Canova, from the creative universe of his atelier to the great capitals of the old continent. discovering the episodes and encounters with the characters that determined the course of his life and of European history.

Curated by Giuseppe Pavanello and Mario Guderzo , with the scientific direction of Barbara Guidi , Io, Canova. European genius is organized by the Civic Museums of Bassano del Grappa in collaboration with Villaggio Globale International and is placed under the aegis of the National Committee for the celebrations of the bicentenary of the death of Antonio Canova.