Back view of Venus Reclining Accompanied by Cupid With A Harp
Venus Reclining Accompanied by Cupid With A Harp c1817 by Italian Sculptor Antonio Canova (1757 – 1822), a neoclassical sculptor, who was famous for his marble statues; and regarded as the greatest of the Neoclassical artist.
This is a beautiful engraving by Italian Engraver Domenico Marchetti (1780 – 1844) that is based on a sculpture of Antonio Canova, and was prepared by Italian intermediary draftsman Giovanni Tognolli (1786 – 1862).
It has beautiful detail and the light effects give the engraving a wonderful sense of depth; not only of the bedding structure, but of Venus (the Roman Goddess of Love) and her son Cupid (the Roman God of Love/Desire) who is playing the harp beside her.
Venus Reclining Accompanied by Cupid With A Harp is a retouched digital art old masters reproduction of a public domain image that is available online as a canvas print.
Use this link to purchase the Ornament Assets used to create the frame in this piece; the bundle includes 400 elements of beautifully designed ornaments.
Info Below Derived From Wikipedia.org
Antonio was born to Pietro Canova, a stone-cutter, and Maria Angela Zardo Fantolini in 1757 in what was then the Venetian Republic city of Possagno.
Venetian Republic or The Republic of Venice was a sovereign state and maritime republic in parts of present-day Italy (mainly northeastern Italy) which existed for 1100 years from 697 AD until 1797 AD.
Centered on the lagoon communities of the prosperous city of Venice, it incorporated numerous overseas possessions in modern Croatia, Slovenia, Montenegro, Greece, Albania and Cyprus.
When Antonio was four years old his father died, and a year later his mother remarried and as a result he was put into the care of his paternal grandfather Pasino Canova who was a stonemason and owner of a quarry; as well as a sculptor in the late Baroque style who specialized in producing altars with statues and low reliefs.
This pairing is what led Antonio into the art of sculpting, and at the age of nine he created two small shrines out of Carrara Marble, which still exist today and by the age of ten he was making clay models and carving marble.
At the age of 13 he began an apprenticeship with the prominent Neoclassical 18th century Italian sculptor Giuseppe Bernardi (1694 – 1773), also known as Torretto; and this would last for tow years.
Afterwards Antonio began working and studying under Italian sculptor Giovanni Ferrari (174 – 1826), and during this period he was provided with his own sculpting shop within a monastery by some of the local monks
In 1775 Antonio began a project to produce statues of Orpheus and Eurydice for the garden of Senator Giovanni Falier for which he was commissioned; and completed the project by 1777.
These pieces are a great example of the style of the late Rococo period; a year later were exhibited for the Feast of the Ascension in Piazza S. Marco, where they were widely praised, which won him fame among the Venetian elite.
In 1779 Antonio opened a studio at Calle Del Traghetto at S. Maurizio and was commissioned by Procurator Pietro Vettor Pisani to produce his first marble statue of a depiction of Daedalus and Icarus.
In 1780 he traveled to Rome spending most of his time studying and sketching the works of Michelangelo; then in 1781 he Venetian ambassador to Rome, Girolamo Zulian (1730 – 1795) hired him to produce a sculpture of Theseus and the Minotaur.
Girolamo is considered to have had significant impact to the fame that Antonio would have in his career; and at his palace he turned some of the rooms in his palace into a studio for Antonio.
When he completed the work on Theseus and the Minotaur; which depicts the victorious Theseus sitting on the lifeless body of the Minotaur, the reaction of early spectators of the work, were that it was a copy of a Greek original; but were shocked to learn that it was a contemporary work.
From this point forward Antonio’s fame grows and between 1783 to 1785, he arranged, composed, and designed a funerary monument dedicated to Clement XIV for the Church of Santi Apostoli, which was completed in 1787; which secured his position as the preeminent living artist of his time.
He would continue to create great sculpture masterpieces until his death in 1822 at the age of 65.
