The Unknown Canova

On 17 October 2001, the opening took place in the State Hermitage of an exhibition that presents graphic art and paintings by the great Italian Antonio Canova (1757–1822), the most outstanding sculptor of the Neo-Classical period. The exhibition has been organized by the State Hermitage in conjunction with the Museo Civico (Municipal Museum) of Bassano del Grappa and the Canova Foundation in Possagno, Italy. The exhibition is unique as the Hermitage, while possessing one of the world’s largest collections of Antonio Canova’s marble sculpture, does not have graphic works or paintings by him. There are drawings and paintings executed in oils and tempera on canvas. The significance of Canova’s graphic legacy, the like of which no other great sculptor has left, was fully appreciated only recently. Almost fifty years ago a first exhibition of Canova’s paintings and graphic art was organized in Italy and became a true revelation for critics and public alike. The artist himself held his drawings to be of primary importance, putting the pencil on a par with the chisel and calling them "tools leading to immortality".

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Giorgio Pegoraro,
vice-mayor of Bassano del Grappa

Irina Artemieva,
a curator of the exhibition