Ο ΑΙΣΘΗΣΙΑΣΜΟΣ ΤΟΥ ANTONIO CANOVA

Paolina Borghese As Venus Victrix. 1804 - ANTONIO CANOVA

[Τhe Economist]. Ο Αντόνιο Κανόβα [Antonio Canova, 1757-1822], Ιταλός γλύπτης και ο διασημότερος εκπρόσωπος του νεοκλασικισμού στη γλυπτική, παραμένει ένα αμήχανο μείγμα στη μνήμη. Η εικόνα του αποτελείται από δύο αταίριαστα πράγματα, την επιβλητικότητα των δύο τεράστιων αγαλμάτων του Ναπολέοντα ως ήρωα της αρχαιότητας και τον αισθησιασμό των μυθολογικών και μη, γυναικείων γλυπτών του.

Antonio Canova - Carita' elemosina (Dijon Museum)

Σε αυτό το δεύτερο, δείχνει επικεντρωμένη η έκθεση του έργου του, που παρουσιάζεται στην Γκαλερία Μποργκέζε της Ρώμης. Μπαίνοντας ο επισκέπτης, τα πρώτα πράγματα που βλέπει, καθώς γράφει ο «Εκόνομιστ», είναι δύο καλλίγραμμα, καμπυλωτά γυναικεία, γυμνά κορμιά, ιδωμένα από την πλάτη, ώστε η άποψη των γλουτών να είναι (το λιγότερο) θεαματική. Βλέπει κάτι γνωστό και οικείο από τις ποικίλες αναπαραγωγές του, αλλά από ασυνήθιστη γωνία.

Le tre Grazie

Είναι οι «Τρεις Χάριτες» του Κανόβα που η μόνιμη θέση τους είναι το Ερμιτάζ της Αγίας Πετρούπολης. Στη Βίλα Μποργκέζε, τις πλαισιώνουν και από τη μια και από την άλλη πλευρά καμπύλες εξίσου αισθησιακές, που ανήκουν σε νύμφες, δάνεια και αυτές από το Μουσείο Αλβέρτου και Βικτωρίας στο Λονδίνο και από το Μετροπόλιταν της Νέας Υόρκης… [Η Καθημερινή, 11/1/2008].

Canova in 1817 by George Hayter (British Embassy, Paris)

The greatest Italian sculptor of modern times, b. at Possagno, in the province of Treviso, 1 November, 1757; d. at Venice 13 October, 1822. Educated by his grandfather, Pasino Canova, a stone-cutter of unusual ability, the boy could model in clay and carve little marble shrines before he was ten. The attention of Senator Giovanni Falieri was attracted to the child, whom he placed with the sculptor Torretto at Bassano, where he worked for two years. Canova then went back to his grandfather; but Falieri's sons interceded for their playmate, and the boy-artist was invited to the palace in Venice. After one year under Torretto's nephew, he spent the next four years in independent efforts. He owed his first workshop to the kindness ofcertain monks who gave him a vacant cell for a studio. In his sixteenth year he modelled his first statue, "Eurydice"; three years later he produced the "Orpheus", both now in the Villa Falieri at Asolo. Then came the "Daedalus and Icarus", a remarkable group, dramatic and full of movement (Venice Academy). In 1780 Canova went to Rome, where he came into contact with the antique from which his talent received fresh energy, and he applied himself earnestly to its study. "Theseus and the Minotaur" (1782) is one of his best works (Volksgarten, Vienna). In 1787 the young sculptor executed the monument to Clement XIV in the church of the Santi Apostoli at Rome. The noble figure of the pontiff is seated, the right hand stretched forth in benediction. His next work was the elaborate tomb of Clement XIII in St. Peter's, with the admirable "Lions of Canova" at the base. In 1793 he did the Cadenabbia "Psyche and Cupid", a graceful composition of exquisite lines; and in 1796 the life-size "Kneeling Magdalen" (Cadenabbia) and the "Hebe" (Berlin). The year following saw the "Psyche and Cupid" of the Louvre. In 1800 Canova made the "Perseus" which stands grouped with his two boxers, "Kreugas and Damoxenus", in the Gabinetto Canova of the Vatican Gallery.

Antonio Canova: Ninfa dormiente

In 1802, by special request of Napoleon I, he went to Paris and modelled a colossal figure of the emperor, holding a Victory in his hand (Apsley House, London). His "Bust of Napoleon" is in the Corcoran Gallery, Washington. Some years later Canova modelled a noble statue of Napoleon's mother in antique garb; one of Marie Louise as "Concord" (Parma) and the reclining portrait of Pauline Bonaparte, wife of Prince Borghese, as "Venus Victrix" (Villa Borghese, Rome). The colossal, boyish "Palamedes" for the Villa Carlotta, Cadenabbia (1804), was followed next year by the "Venus from the Bath" (Pitti Palace, Florence). At the same time Canova was engaged upon the monument for the Archduchess Maria Christina, a group of nine mourning figures entering a mausoleum (church of theAugustinians, Vienna), and travelled to Austria to superintend the setting up of the work. In 1807 he executed the "Bust of Pius VII", one of his most notable achievements in portraiture. The number of his productions is so large that it is impossible to mention minor ones. Some of his lighter subjects, "his leisures" he called them, are well known, e.g. the "Dancing Girls". In 1814 he produced the "Three Graces".

Antonio Canova, Amore e Psiche, 1793

In 1815 Canova went to Paris, as the pope's envoy, to negotiate for the return of the art treasures carried away from Italy by Napoleon in his campaign, and conducted his mission so successfully that a large part of the spoils was recovered. In acknowledgment of his services he was created Marquis of Ischia, with an income attached to the title. The pope in person inscribed the sculptor's name in the Golden Book of Roman Nobles. Canova, about this time, blocked out his colossal statue of Religion holding a cross and unveiling a circular relief on which was the figure of the Lamb. Owing to its huge size the "Religion" found no place; it was repeated on a lesser scale for Lord Brownlow. In 1817 came the charming "Infant St. John" and the tomb for the Stuart princes in St. Peter's. In 1818 Canova was commissioned to make a heroic statue of Washington for the State House, Raleigh, N.C. He clothed him as a Roman warrior but the head was mild and full of dignity. The "Recumbent Magdalen", for the Earl of Liverpool, was one of the sculptor's latest works, as was also the "Pius VI" (in the Confessio at St. Peter's), whose uplifted face and joined hands are full of a religious exaltation. A colossal bust of his friend and biographer Count Cocognara, was the last work from his hand. [συνέχεια εδώ: