Canova, ultimo principe

The famous neoclassical sculptor and his bond with the Accademia Nazionale di San Luca are at the centre of an exhibition organized as part of the celebrations for the two hundredth anniversary of the artist's death. 

Canova, ultimo principe is housed in the 17th-century Palazzo Carpegna, since 1934, the seat of the prestigious association of which he was an academician of merit, prince, and then perpetual prince.

The exhibition path winds through eight sections that trace the years from the artist entering the Academy to his death, bearing witness to the indelible mark that the artist left inside the Academy: Canova in Accademia, I concorsi Canova: pittura e scultura, Canova e Thorvaldsen, La Religione, L’Accademia al tempo di Canova, De’ Monumenti Antichi, I concorsi Canova: architettura, La Scuola del Nudo 1801-1812.

On display are remarkable artworks such as the plaster relief Socrates rescues Alcibiades at the Battle of Potidaea and others in dialogue with works by the Danish sculptor Bertel Thorvaldsen. Among the latter are the Self-Portrait, the head of Clement XIII, and the Portrait of Napoleon. You can also admire the large plaster of the Religion, the Penitent Magdalene, the only Canova's pictorial testimony in the Academy, and the model of the triumphal arch dedicated to Francis II of Habsburg-Lorraine.

The exhibition includes sculptures and paintings by friends and colleagues, such as Pietro Benvenuti, Vincenzo Camuccini, Filippo Albacini, Agostino Tofanelli and Andrea Pozzi.  On display also a series of large nude paintings, some works referring to Canova's as guarantor of the restoration actions on Rome's ancient monuments, architectural projects for the 1817 and 1820 Canova Contests, and drawings by the students of the Capitoline Nude School, managed by the Academy.

The exhibition is promoted and organized by the Accademia Nazionale di San Luca under the High Patronage of the President of the Republic as part of the celebrations for the bicentenary of the death of Antonio Canova (1757-1822). Curated and organized by Claudio Strinati, Serenita Papaldo, Francesco Cellini, Laura Bertolaccini, Carolina Brook, Elisa Camboni, Fabrizio Carinci, Giulia De Marchi, Fabio Porzio. Free admission with reservation required subject to availability.

Photo: Antonio Canova, Socrates rescues Alcibiades at the Battle of Potidaea, 1797, plaster, 110x140x6,50 cm, Courtesy Accademia Nazionale di San Luca