CANOVA: Sketching in Clay

…more artist musings

ANTONIO CANOVA (1757-1822) was an Italian Neoclassical sculptor. In 1779 he traveled to Rome to study the ancient and modern sculpture. THE EXHIBIT demonstrates Canova’s step-by-step sculptural production procedure. From initial small terracotta representation “sketches” presented to the client to the completed over sized marble sculptures.

Canova’s early pieces represented heavily dramatic themes, that could be characterized by their agonized facial expressions and contorted human forms as with the Baroque style. The artist favored white Carrara marble so that veining would be avoided if another marble were used.

According to the art historian Giuseppe Pavanello, “Canova’s system of work concentrated on the initial ideas, and on the final carving of the marble”

The artist had an elaborate system of “comparative pointing” so that the workers were able to reproduce the plaster form in the selected block of marble.