Al tempo di Canova

Antonio Canova arrived in Rome in 1779 for a professional training that lasted until 1822, the year of his death. The Roman stay of the sculptor include a period full of changes, that are revealed in the artist’s growing and maturing process. The significant steps in Canova’s formative career concern, first, the study of classical antiquities, considered as an indispensable source of reference for his own, new sculptural works; then, the development and enhancement of technical skills in sculptural practice, both in terms of execution methods and project design and the comparison with well-known artists. The achievement of important commissions made Canova a protagonist in the cultural politics of the time. On August 10th, 1802, Pope Pius VII appointed him Ispettore generale alle Antichità e Belle Arti, a position due to Canova’s prestige as an artist, but it also implied that he was recognized as an expert in protecting and preserving the artistic Heritage of the Papal State. This role was confirmed to Canova within the new administrative structures imposed during the five years of the French Governorate. From 1809 to 1814, therefore, Canova promoted protection politics in the areas interested by the French excavations (foremost, the Forum, the Palatine and the Via Appia); he preserved the erratic materials, mostly fragmentary, and assembled a collection of marbles and terracottas that testifies very well to both the intention of the nascent archaeological science to giovare alle Belle Arti e convalidare la storia, and the new Romantic taste for unintegrated ruins.