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Canova: Sketching in Clay

Past Exhibition

June 11 – October 9, 2023
West 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