The famous sculptor we asked you to name is none other then Antonio Canova (1757-1822). Canova is known to be the greatest sculptor of his time throughout Europe. Both his father and grandfather were stone cutters and helped develop Canova’s trade. As soon as he could hold a pencil, he executed drawings under the guidance of his grandfather. In 1780, Canova moved to Rome, Italy. It was here, he grew into his own as an artist and established his fame. Canova illustrated the Romantic Classicism that was so valued at the time, he created daring images of seductive elegance and form. Both the supple figures and tactful features of his work recalled the earlier Rococo, with its charm and realism, but he was firmly Neoclassic in his approach.
Psyche Revived by Cupids Kiss was commissioned in 1787 and acquired by Joachim Murat in 1800, and entered the Louvre in 1824, two years after Canova’s death.
Canova seduced the whole of Europe with his mythological compositions in which the purity of contours was used to portray a discrete eroticism. In the area of portraiture he was the absolute champion of idealization. He displayed a sensibility both to naturalism and to the early Renaissance, opening the way to two dominant trends at the beginning of the century: skilled realism and historical subject matter. These Canova sculptures will make a wonderful decor for your gallery or make a wonderful gift of historical and classical statuary.
