The Museum of Rome at Palazzo Braschi is hosting a major exhibition featuring one of Italy’s most famous sculptors ‘Canova: The Sign of the Glory. Drawings, paintings and sculptures’.
The exhibition includes 79 drawings selected from the museum’s 1,800-piece collection of Antonio Canova’s work. The collection is the largest in the world of art by any artist and was donated in the mid-19th century to the then newly inaugurated Museo Civico of Bassano by the artist’s half-brother and heir, Giambattista Sartori Canova.
Canova was born in Venice and worked in Rome. He is known for his marble sculptures that depict nude flesh with a delicate sensuality. The curators believe that the show presents Canova in historical context, bridging Europe between the 18th and 19th centuries, so clarifying his role as the first real modern artist. His work marks the shift from the flamboyant Baroque style to the refinement of Neoclassicism.
The show includes designs for many of Canova’s busts and monumental sculptures, including those of Napoleon Bonaparte and George Washington. The drawings are accompanied by 15 etchings, six original plaster models, four tempera paintings, an oil painting, two terracotta pieces and two marble sculptures that illustrate the transition from the concept stage to the production of an artwork.
‘Canova: The Sign of the Glory. Drawings, paintings and sculptures’ runs until 7 April 7. Tickets cost €11.
