photograph
by manfredi bellati
Venus is the Absolute Star
Possagno
– Asolo and Crespano del Grappa: Venere Nelle Terre di Antonio Canova – Exhibitions. Three
exhibitions, entitled Venus in the Land of Antonio Canova, until April 24,
2016, in three different small towns in the Treviso foothills, Possagno, Asolo
and Crespano del Grappa pay homage to the figure of Venus, as depicted by greatest
neoclassical sculptor Antonio Canova, in honor of the loan of Antonio Canova’s Leeds
Venus. The magnificent marble sculpture
of Venus emerging from the bath, arrived directly from Leeds in Great Britain,
it was sculpted for an English
nobleman in 1817-20, and is placed in Canova’s home, now the Museo e Gipsoteca Antonio Canova in Possagno. It majestically takes final stage of
the exhibition that coils within the museum, where the visitor can admire and
examine all the “Venuses” that Canova sculpted, from the Le Grazie, (see below)
the Dancers, Dirce, Najade and Pauline, as well as, his plaster casts, and
the original models that Canova produced before carving, his paintings and his
memorabilia.
Above.
Antonio Canova – Leeds Venus – 1817-20 – marble – Leeds City Art Museum.
Possagno:
Venere nelle Terre di Antonio Canova. In front of the Museo
e Gipsoteca Antonio Canova, Franca Coin, President of the Fondazione Canova,
together with the three mayors of Possagno, Asolo and Crespano del Grappa,
welcome guests at the opening of the exhibition Venus in the land of Antonio
Canova. “For this occasion, we wanted to represent all three locations of this
magnificent region, which boasts the creation of the works of the sculptor, the
locations are all “dressed up” to create an art itinerary to intrigue visitors; both for the works that are on show and for the places that
are home to the three exhibitions, of this ideal path of art: Asolo, Possagno
and Crespano del Grappa. These three small-town gems are set in an environment,
the Asolo and the Monte Grappa foothills, of which the charm and the beauty are often poignant. " Franca
Coin stated.
Above. Franca Coin and the mayors of Asolo, Possagno and
Crespano del Grappa, in the background the Tempio Canoviano.
Museo
and Gipsoteca Antonio Canova. In the
square, in front of the museum, “drawn” in the cobblestones, is the plan of the
Tempio Canoviano, above, designed by architect Toni Follina.
Museo e Gipsoteca Antonio Canova. The museum of
Antonio Canova is lodged in his birth-house, where a complete view of his art
and his life can be admired. Here his memory is preserved thanks to his
stepbrother Giovanni Battista Sartori. Today, this museum, collects almost all
his plaster cast models, his terracotta scale models, drawings and paintings,
they constitutes a necessary reference point for all the museums of the world
that jealously preserve his marble masterpieces.
Above.
Antonio Canova – Paolina Borghese Bonaparte – 1804-08 – plaster cast.
Museo e Gipsoteca Antonio Canova. Antonio Canova - Le Grazie
– 1813 – plaster cast – original model – metallic points sculpture in marble –
1812-1816 – St. Petersburg - Hermitage.
Note.
The famous Canova "dots" on the plasters
are the immediate tacks (Repere), units of measurement, necessary for the work,
of the famous sculptor, to be translated from plaster cast sculpture into
marble.
Museo e Gipsoteca Antonio Canova
Senator
Patrizia Bisinella, Gianni De Paoli, mayor of Possagno, Franca Coin, president
Fondazione Canova and Venice International Foundation, Marco Baratto, deputy
mayor of Crespano del Grappa, Paolo Carollo, president Lascito Fondazione
Canova, Mauro Migliorini, mayor of Asolo, Mario Guderzo, director of the Museo
e Gipsoteca Antonio Canova.
Andrea
Bellieni – director of the Correr Museum in Venice
Note:
In The Museo Correr in Piazza San Marco, Venice, The Fondazione Musei Civici di Venezia, in collaboration with the
support of Venice International Foundation, Friends of Venice
Italy and the Comite Français pour la Sauvegarde de Venise, presented the
“Sublime Canova” project, aimed at the restoration of the precious section
dedicated to Antonio Canova in the museum, with the intent to allow full enjoyment of Beauty,
Harmony and Purity emanating from the works of Antonio Canova.
In
the foreground – Antonio Canova - Marie-Louise – 1809 - plaster cast – original
model – lose mould with pencil markings
How
Canova Worked – life-size plaster cast
Franca
Coin president of the Fondazione Canova and Mario Guderzo, director of the Museo
e Gipsoteca Antonio Canova
Around
the fabulous Leeds Marble on loan to the museum, Mario Guderzo, director of the Gipsoteca, has created a real show-path, offering the many testimonies
that Antonio Canova left around the theme of Venus and, more generally, of the
female nude. "The theme of beauty is inherent to Canova says Guderzo.
There is never anything vulgar in the bodies, whether they are young women or
young male bodies; they are portrayed with equal passion. Canova loved beauty
and transferred it into perfect shapes staying true to real form.”
Marco
Ceresa and Marco Arosio
Lucio
Pollo
Museo e Gipsoteca Antonio Canova. Antonio
Canova – Funeral Monument to Marie-Christine of Austria – 1799-1800 – plaster
cast – bas-relief and figures – metallic points. Sculpture in marble – Vienna – 1798-1805 –
Augustinian Church.
Pinotto
and Fiora Marelli
Piergiorgio Coin
Antonio
Canova - Terracotta Models
Museo e Gipsoteca Antonio Canova – Antonio Canova
Figures in Movement
mixed
media
Fabio
Zonta
Photographer
of the beautiful catalogue
Venere
Nelle Terre di Canova
Francesco
and Crista Casarin
Museo e Gipsoteca Antonio Canova – Canova’s noble vestments
How
Canova Worked – life-size plaster cast
Museo
e Gipsoteca Antonio Canova
Asolo
– Museo Civico - Venere nelle Terre di Antonio Canova. The
cutting of the ribbon at the Museo Civico in Asolo, Franca Coin, president of
the Fondazione Canova with the mayors of Possagno, Asolo and Crespano del
Grappa the three towns, hosting the Venus in the Land of Canova exhibitions,
until April 24, 2016 and closely associated in the life of Antonio Canova.
