Antonio CANOVA Possagno, 1757 - Venice, 1822
Head of Calliope or Presumed Portrait of Marie-Louise de Habsbourg, Empress of the French as Calliope
White marble
Circa 1812
Height : 47 cm (H. : 18.5 in.)
Resting on a 9 cm pedestal.
Total height: 56 cm
(Minor restoration in a wick and small missing parts)
Head of Calliope or Presumed portrait of Marie-Louise of Habsburg, Empress of the French as Calliope, white marble, by A. Canova
Provenance: Collection of Baroness and Baron Gaspard Gourgaud, by descent;
Anonymous sale; Paris, Four seasons hotel, Tajan, April 5, 2001, n° 77 ;
Private collection, France
Bibliography: Related:
Giuseppe Pavanello, Mario Praz, 'L'opera completa del Canova', Milan, 1976, p.121-122, n°235, 237-8 ;
Gérard Hubert, 'La Sculpture dans l'Italie Napoléonienne', 1964, Paris, p. 474 and plate 64;
Elena Bassi, 'Antonio Canova a Possano', Treviso, 1972, p. 96, plaster model listed under no. 239
Giancarlo Cunial, 'La Gipsoteca di Possano', Asolo, 2003, p. 32
Katharine Eustace, 'Canova: Ideal Heads', exhibition catalogue, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, 1997, no. 7
Sergej Androsov, Fernando Mazzocca, Antonio Paolucci (dir.), Canova, l'ideale classsico tra scultura e pittura, cat. exp., Forlì, Musei San Domenico, 2009, p. 181-184, p. 325-326
Mario Guderzo (ed.), 'Antonio Canova, à l'origine du Mythe', cat. exp., Aosta, Centre Saint-Bénin, June 13 - October 11, 2015, 2015
Giuseppe Pavanello (dir.), Canova. Eterna Bellezza, cat. exp., Rome, Palazzo Braschi, Museo di Roma, 2019, pp. 135, 249, 336-337 ;
Omar Cucciniello and Paola Zatti (eds.), Canova. I volti ideali, cat. exp. Milan, GAM (Galleria d'Arte Moderna), October 25, 2019 - March 15, 2020, esp. p.103-109 and p. 120-121
Commentary: Related works:
- Antonio Canova, Buste de Clio ou Calliope, plaster, model with focus, circa 1811, H. 66 cm, Museo Civico, Bassano del Grappa, n°inv. 63 ;
-Antonio Canova, Head of Calliope, marble, H. 60 cm, signed and dated on reverse "ANT. CANOVA. 1811", Montpellier, Musée Fabre, inv.825.1.246, from the former collection of the Countess of Albany, gift to Xavier Fabre;
- Antonio Canova, Head of Calliope, marble, H. 46 cm, signed and dated on reverse "ANT. CANOVA. 1812", Florence, Palazzo Pitti, no. 237, from the former collection of Ippolito Rosini,
descendant of Giovanni ;
-Antonio Canova, Ideal Head, 1817, marble, Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford, inv. WA1996.395, provenance William Hamilton ;
-Antonio Canova, Portrait de Marie-Louise, marble, Milan, Museo di Risorgimento;
-Antonio Canova (attributed to), Calliope, marble bust, dim. 69 x 54.5 x 34 x 32 cm, Brussels, Musées Royaux des Beaux-Arts de Belgique, inv. 1348, acquired from M. Payen-Allard ;
-Probably cast for Antonio Canova by Vincenzo Malpieri, Buste de Calliope, ca. 1812, with partial inscription "CANOVA F.A. 1812, musa", plaster, H.: 45 cm, Anonymous sale; London, Sotheby's, December 4, 2018, no. 117
This bust of the muse Calliope bears witness to the genius of Italian artist Antonio Canova, whose Work revolutionized the art of statuary in Europe at the turn of the 18th century. In the whiteness of the marble, it expresses the talent of the leader of Neoclassicism, who combined the idealization of classical sculpture with the study of nature in his "Ideal Heads".
Born into a family of stonemasons in Possagno, in the province of Treviso, Antonio Canova's precocious talent was evident from his early years as an apprentice in the workshop of Giuseppe Bernardi Torretti, then at the Santa-Marina School in Venice, where he won several prizes. His genius was immediately recognized by the great patrons of the City of the Doges when he opened his first workshop in 1775. His discovery of classical antiquity through his study of the great Italian cities was decisive in his conception of an art that unwaveringly advocated the ideal of Beauty. His move to Rome in 1779 marked a decisive turning point in his career; his studio on the Via delle Colonnete (fig. 1) became a point of reference for collectors and artists who came to Rome to admire ancient art and the latest archaeological finds. By fully immersing himself in "the Museum of Rome" and the great classical culture, Canova created a "Cult of Antiquity" that became one of the foundations of Neoclassicism.
Canova took on numerous commissions for private and public monuments, including the famous group of Cupid and Psyche in 1787 and the illustrious Monument to Pope Clement XIII, completed in 1792. Inspector General of Antiquities and Fine Arts for the State of the Church from 1802, appointed by Pius VII, he also received prestigious commissions from all the European courts.
Estim. 3,000,000 - 4,000,000 EUR