1807.] 
ties, since those which drew forth these 
praises cannot cease to strike such 
minds as are susceptible of them. 
Several of Canova’s master-pieces 
have been ranked by connoisseurs, who 
pique themselves on extraordinary, SAwa= 
city, with the chefs @wuvres of antiquity. 
Fis Perseus has even been compared with 
advantage to the Apollo Belvidere, and 
the loss of the |: atter by the Vatican Mu- 
seum has not been thought irreparable.. 
The artist himself did not scruple to af- 
ford connoisseurs an opportunity of mak- 
ang this comparison ; and on the first ex- 
hibition of the Perseus, a copy of the 
Apollo, in bronze, was placed beside it. 
For some years the group of the R Raging 
Hercules and Lycas was exhibited beside 
Glycon’s Hercules at rest. It must. be 
acknowledved that those who are not ac- 
quaimted with the modesty.of Canova 
disposition, might t deduce from this so 
ralle! an op:mica not much in his favour, 
and to them, tvhat he did with a view to 
the gratification of connolssews, might 
appear the most ridiculous presumption. 
The pope has confirmed the praises 
bestowed on the Perseus and the two 
Gladiators, by purchasmmg them for the 
Pio-Clemenitine Museum, which before 
contained nothing but master-pieces of 
the ancieuts, and the Perseus has taken 
the place left vacant by the Apollo. A 
papal decree of the same time, which 
charges Canova with the superintendance 
of the arts and ancient monuments in 
the dominions of Rome, describes him 
as the rival of Plidias and Praxiteles. 
This compliment has not been paid to 
any modern artist; and without reckoning 
the dignity of Chevalier, which has also 
been conferred on him, Canova enjoys 
greater honors. than have ever been 
granted to any artist. 
Whether he wil] maintain in the eyes 
of posterity that reputation which such 
pompous eulogiums would imsinuate to be 
his due, is a question which we shall not 
pretend to decide: but, at least, we may 
rest satisfied that the praises of contem- 
poraries cannot confer acelebrity which is 
not deserved; and the example of Ber- 
pini ‘enjoying in the 17th century the 
ike favours both from the pope and the 
public, is sufficient to justify this opinion, 
We shall not assert that the Romans, 
whose eyes and taste are continually ex- 
ercised by the master-pieces which their 
city presents in such great numbers, are 
not better judges of the productions of 
art than the imhabitants of any othe 
great city; but the enthusiasm of th 
Account of the Life and Works of Canova. 45 
moment may blind them to the defects of 
a work, Nay, those very defects often, 
appear ina very favourable point of view, 
from the brilliancy of the artist’s talents, 
which seems to surround them; and in 
order to proportion enthusiasm to the. 
just value of the work which excites it, 
to pronounce coolly concerning the faults, 
which disfigure it, neither the reputation 
nor the private interest of the artist 
should have any weight in the opinion to 
be formed of his productions. 
Antonio Canova was born in 1757, at 
Possagno, a village in the diocese of T ve= 
vigi, in the territory of Venice. He very - 
early manifested a strong propensity ae 
sculpture. At the age of twelve years, 
“he served up at the table of M. Falieri, 
the lord of his village, a lion of butter, 
This trifling circumstance shews that as 
that tender age the lion was bis ees 
animal, and perhaps may account for the 
excellence of his subsequent imitations, 
Be this as it may, certain it is that the 
lion gained our young artist the notice of 
M, Falter, He enabled him early to. 
coimmence a career which he was des- 
tined to pursue with such success. At 
the age of fourteen he was put appren- 
tice to a sculptor of mediocrity at Bas- 
sano. There he was for some years em- 
ployed in learmng to manage the chisel, 
and in the making of models: but his 
genius waited for circumstances more fa- 
vourable to its development. At the age 
of seventeen, when his apprenticeship. 
expired, he “executed an Eurydice of | 
half the natural size, in soft marble. He 
was then sent to Venice, to the Academy 
of tine Arts, where his takents found, ia 
good models, safe guides to direct their 
attempts. He gained several of the 
prizes offered by the academy. The 
works which he executed during bis stay 
at Venice, till he was tr wenty-three years 
old, began to establish his reputation, 
and to encotrage those hopes which he 
has.since realized to a degree even sur- 
passing w shat they seemed to promise, 
These works were the following : 
A group representing Apollo and 
Daphne; 
The bust of the Doge Paolo Renieri ; 
An /Eseulapius; : 
An Or pheus, as a counterpart to the 
statue of Eurydice, which he executed 
at Bassano ; 
A, eure, ten palms in height, of clay, 
as an essay in colossal figures ; 
A young Hercules strangling the ser- 
ents. 
All these works were but essays in-- 
tended 
