Canova - Thorvaldsen, the birth of modern sculpture

This exhibition can be seen in Milan at the Galleria d'Italia in Piazza della Scala. The exhibition includes many marble works, some in plaster, and paintings. The marble works are by Antonio Canova and Bertel Thorvaldsen who was a sculptor from Denmark. Along with these there are also exhibited works by a few other sculptors, contemporary to the two, who had the same way of sculpting or the same subjects of Canova and Thorvaldsen. The paintings on display are portraits of the two sculptors, of the people who made themselves statues or paintings that covered the themes of the sculptures. The two sculptors were contemporaries, lived for a long time in Rome and often sculpted the same theme. They rediscovered classical Greek sculpture by reproposing the same subjects, "Love and Psyche", "Venus", and beyond the sublime sculptures of the "Three Graces". The two sculptors were rivals and each gave a personal interpretation to the classic subjects, but the way of sculpting was identical. The beauty of their works caught the attention of the dominant European class of the time for which these works were reproduced many times becoming popular all over the world. Canova was the artist who revolutionized sculpture through comparison, and often overcoming, with classical sculpture. Thorvaldsen, probably impressed by Canova's works, resumed the themes without the soft plasticity of Canova. However, he had the merit of conveying the fascination of the Mediterranean world in the Nordic countries.

Tags: sculpture