Antonio Canova (Italian, 1757-1822)
Bust of Paris
1809 2
Marble
The Art Institute of Chicago
Chicago, IL 23
Illinois 25
United States 444
Antonio Canova, Bust of Paris sculpture
This bust is Inscribed Ant(o)nio Quatremere/Amico Optimo/Antonius Canova/Dono Dedit/F. Romae/An. MDCCCIX (1809)
Italian Neoclassical sculptor Antonio Canova was born in 1757 in Possagno, Italy. He is probably the greatest of the Neoclassical artists, his work was inspired by the Baroque and the classical revival. In the early 1770s Canova studied at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Venezia, at the end of the 1770 he opened his own studio at Calle Del Traghetto at S. Maurizio. At the beginning of the 19th century Canova travelled to many countries in Europe including France, England, and Austria. After his return to Rome in 1816 he was rewarded with several marks of distinction. He created a statue of George Washington, the first President of the United States, for the state of North Carolina in 1820 which was destroyed by a fire in 1831. Antonio Canova died in October 1822 in Venice, Italy.