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Antonio Canova

Antonio Canova, Autoritratto. Carrara, Accademia di Belle Arti
Antonio Canova, Autoritratto. Carrara, Accademia di Belle Arti

Antonio Canova (Possagno, 1 November 1757–Venice, 13 October 1822), painter but above all sculptor, was the greatest exponent of Italian Neoclassicism.
He began his training in Venice and at twenty–two years of age moved to Rome, where he entered into contact with the leading figures of Neoclassical art. During the Napoleonic period, Canova, Napoleon’s official portraitist, was in contact with Élisa Baciocchi and made many portraits of the imperial family, among which the most celebrated is certainly that of Pauline Borghese in the guise of Venus Victrix.
In addition to his artistic activity, Canova was also committed to the protection of artistic patrimony: in 1802 he was named Inspector General of Antiquities and of the Arts of the Church State and in this role he spared no effort, after the fall of Napoleon, in returning many of the works to Italy that had been taken to France by Napoleon’s army.
At his death in 1822, Canova was buried in Possagno, his birth city, where there is a museum dedicated to him.