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Home>Exhibitions>Past>2023>Canova: Sketching in Clay

# Canova: Sketching in Clay

Past Exhibition

## June 11 – October 9, 2023West Building, Main Floor, Galleries 74, 75, 76, 79

How does a sculptor turn an initial idea into a finished work of marble? For Antonio Canova (1757–1822), the most famous artist of Europe’s revolutionary period, the answer was with clay.

Working with his hands and small tools, Canova produced dazzling sketch models in clay, which helped him plan his designs for his large statues in marble. Imprinted with the fire of his imagination, these sketches were boldly executed in mere minutes. Canova also made more finished models, sensuous in their details, that he showed to patrons or used as guides for carving.

More than 30 of his some 60 or so surviving models reveal the artist’s extraordinary working process—a process that led to the creation of some of the most iconic works in the history of sculpture.

## Explore Selected Works

Canova: Sketching in Clay
Antonio Canova, *Adam and Eve Mourning the Dead Abel*, c. 1818–1822, terracotta, Museo Gypsotheca Antonio Canova, Possagno, Photographed by Luigi Spina

Canova: Sketching in Clay
Detail of *Adam and Eve Mourning the Dead Abel*

Canova: Sketching in Clay
Detail of *Adam and Eve Mourning the Dead Abel*

Canova: Sketching in Clay
Antonio Canova, *Study of a Boy*, c. 1790–1800, terracotta, Museo Gypsotheca Antonio Canova, Possagno, Photographed by Luigi Spina

Canova: Sketching in Clay
Detail of *Study of a Boy*

Canova: Sketching in Clay
Detail of *Study of a Boy*

Canova: Sketching in Clay
Antonio Canova, *Pope Clement XIV*, 1783, painted terracotta, Museo Gypsotheca Antonio Canova, Possagno, Photographed by Luigi Spina

Canova: Sketching in Clay
Detail of *Pope Clement XIV*

Canova: Sketching in Clay
Antonio Canova, *Pyrrhus Sacrificing Polyxena*, c. 1798–1799, terracotta, Museo Gypsotheca Antonio Canova, Possagno, Photographed by Luigi Spina

Canova: Sketching in Clay
Detail of *Pyrrhus Sacrificing Polyxena*

Canova: Sketching in Clay
Detail of *Pyrrhus Sacrificing Polyxena*

Canova: Sketching in Clay
Detail of *Pyrrhus Sacrificing Polyxena*

Canova: Sketching in Clay
Antonio Canova, *Venus and Adonis*, c. 1787, terracotta, Museo Gypsotheca Antonio Canova, Possagno, Photographed by Luigi Spina

Canova: Sketching in Clay
Detail of *Venus and Adonis*

Canova: Sketching in Clay
Detail of *Venus and Adonis*

## Learn More About Canova

Who Is Antonio Canova? 10 Things to Know
The inventive Italian artist is considered one of the most important sculptors of Europe’s revolutionary period.
Thinking in Clay: How Antonio Canova Made His Sculptures
A close look at the sculptor’s clay models reveals his extraordinary working process . . . and his thumbprints.
Antonio Canova Sculpts George Washington
How did the Italian sculptor approach a portrait of the first US president?

## Events

Canova in Context
Join us for two events—Antonio Canova and His Contemporaries and Italian Sculpture from Antonio Canova to Medardo Rosso. Registration is required.
Learn more

**Organization**                        The exhibition is organized by the National Gallery of Art, Washington, and the Art Institute of Chicago.

The exhibition is curated by C. D. Dickerson III, senior curator of European and American art, National Gallery of Art, and Emerson Bowyer, Searle Curator, Painting and Sculpture of Europe, the Art Institute of Chicago.

**Other venues** The Art Institute of Chicago, November 19, 2023–March 18, 2024

**Sponsors** Major support is provided by the Annenberg Fund for the International Exchange of Art.Additional support is provided by the Embassy of Italy.Under the patronage of the National Committee for the Celebration of the Bicentenary of the Death of Antonio Canova, Ministry of Culture, Rome.

**Passes** Admission is always free and passes are not required

**Banner detail**: Antonio Canova, *Adam and Eve Mourning the Dead Abel*, c. 1818–1822, terracotta, Museo Gypsotheca Antonio Canova, Possagno, Italy. Photographed by Luigi Spina

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