A History of the Nineteenth Century, Year by Year. Volume 2 (of 3)Emerson, Edwin
History
A History of the Nineteenth Century, Year by Year. Volume 2 (of 3)
Emerson, Edwin
History, Modern -- 19th century
Late in the autumn news came from Venice that Canova, the celebrated
sculptor, had died. Antonio Canova was born in 1757 at Passaguo near
Treviso. He was first an apprentice to a statuary in Bassano, from whom he
went to the Academy of Venice, where he had a brilliant career. In 1779 he
was sent by the Senate of Venice to Rome, and there produced his Theseus
and the Slain Minotaur. In 1783, Canova undertook the execution of the tomb
of Pope Clement XIV., a work similar to the tomb of Pope Clement XIII. His
fame rapidly increased. He established a school for the benefit of young
Venetians, and among other works produced the well-known Hebe and the
colossal Hercules hurling Lichas into the sea. In 1797, Canova finished the
model of the celebrated tomb of the Archduchess Christina of Austria.
Napoleon called the rising sculptor to France, and he there executed the
famous nude portrait of Napoleon now preserved in Milan. After his return
to Italy he fashioned his Perseus with the Head of Medusa at Rome. When the
Belvidere Apollo was carried off to France, this piece of statuary was
thought not unworthy of the classic Apollo's place and pedestal in the
Vatican. Among the later works of Canova are the colossal group of Theseus
Killing the Minotaur, a Paris, and a Hector. After Napoleon's second fall
in 1815, Canova was commissioned by the Pope to demand the restoration of
the works of art carried from Rome. He went to Paris and succeeded in his
mission. At his return to Rome in 1816, the Pope created him Marquis of
Orchia, with a pension of 3,000 scudi, and his name was entered into the
Golden Book at the Capitol. His closing years were spent in Venice. There
he died October 13, 1822.
[Sidenote: Congress of Verona]
[Sidenote: England slighted]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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