Женский бюст

1800

The most celebrated artist in Europe

By 1800 Canova was the most celebrated artist in Europe. He promoted his reputation systematically — publishing engravings of his works and having marble versions of his plaster casts made in his workshop — and acquired patrons across Europe, from France, England, Russia, Austria and Holland, including members of several royal lineages.

1802

Summoned to Paris to sculpt Napoleon’s bust

Napoleon wanted a portrait by Canova, and in 1802 (by other accounts, already on 6 October 1801) the sculptor was summoned to France; he became one of the official artists of the Empire. Yet, deeply grieved by the removal of works of art to France, he returned to Italy in protest, despite Napoleon’s insistent demands that he stay in Paris for good.

1815

Mission to Paris: bringing back the looted masterpieces

In 1815 Pope Pius VII named Canova his Minister Plenipotentiary and tasked him with recovering works of art that Napoleon had taken to Paris. At the Louvre he met resistance from its director Vivant Denon and, because of the works’ size or unclear whereabouts, was forced to leave major pieces behind, among them Veronese’s “The Wedding at Cana”.

1816

Marquis of Ischia and the “Golden Book”

Returning to Rome in 1816 with some of the art Napoleon had taken, Canova was rewarded by the Pope with the title of Marquis of Ischia, inscription in the “Golden Book of Roman Nobles” (the Pope entered his name with his own hands) and an annual pension of 3,000 crowns.

11 July 1819

Lays the foundation stone of his own temple in Possagno

After his 1814 proposal for a statue of Religion in St Peter’s was rejected, Canova resolved to build his own temple: he designed and financed the building himself and partly built it, combining the Parthenon and the Pantheon. On 11 July 1819 he laid the foundation stone, dressed in a red papal uniform and wearing all his medals, and afterwards visited Possagno every autumn to direct the workmen.

13 October 1822

Died