SS ee eee ee ae 
Ee 
_terises the god of war. 
= ee SS Oe ee 
158 Account of the Life and dae of Canova... 
suspended by the side. If Pérseus is not 
a hero, Mars is peithe? a hero nora God. ' 
He displays neither the boldness, nor the’ 
courage, nor the jeast trait which charac- 
parts of the statue are not executed after 
good models, 1t does not even possess the 
advantage of beauty in ‘detail; the fi- 
gure is upon the whole heavy and with- 
out equilibrium. ~The upper part of the 
body 1s excessively large : in sy i ord, this 
performance is not wor rthy of Canova. 
In 1802, this great artist was mvited to 
Paris, to execute the bust of the Emperor 
Napoleon, designed for a colossal statue 
of that monarch. If this bust be merely 
considered as a portrait, the physto- 
gnomy is exceedingly expressive, and the 
strongly marked character which it ex- 
hibits at first sight, announces no ordinary 
man. The arrangement of the hair is 
periect. It is difficult to find among all 
the busts of antiquity, a head which indi- 
eates such force, such greatness of soul, 
such consummate genius,” If the artist 
has been desirous to present under these 
features the perfect model of a hero, he 
has accomplished that object with the ut 
most ability and success; nay he may 
even be said in this performance to have 
eclipsed all the productions of his genius 
When we compare with this bust those 
of the Chevalier Emo, Pope Clement 
XH. and the King of Naples, it 3$ im- 
possible to conceive them to be the work 
of the same artist. It is unfortunate that 
the rest of the statug belonging to this 
bust falls short of its perfection ; we ob- 
serve in it the same want of dhabacres 
and energy for which we have ecnsured 
the other statues of the heroic class by the 
same artist; and these defects form avery 
disag reeable contrast with the idea of 
grandeur and sublimity which the physio- 
gnomy of the hero excites. 
This statue, incliding the base, is fif- 
teen palms in heicht. The emperor rests 
with ‘ile body advanecd updu the right 
leg; in his right hand he holds a globe, 
on which is the Goddess of Vietory; the 
head is turned to the richt and conse- 
quently the whole figure takes the same 
direction. The left’ Tee stands back verv 
far, The arm is bent at the elbow, and 
is supported by asnear. Above the arm 
ts fastened a ieee which descends to 
the legs; it forms a great number of folds 
and fills the space between the body and 
the arm which holds the spear, every 
where else the statue is absolutely naked. 
Te will readily be perceived from this: 
brief description, that there is no contrast 
As the other 
[Sept. 1, 
in the attitude of the hero, ‘ant that the’ 
artist has failen into the very same error 
as in that of Perseus; and it is impos-’ 
sible to tind one fingle point of view in’ 
which it presents an agreeable aspect. 
‘The movement of the fioure does not. 
mark any well detined circumstance ; for? 
it does not absolutely rest on the right 
leg, and you might even faney that it tot- 
ters, ‘There is moreover a qwianitest con~ 
tradiction in the attitude; from the dis! 
position of the legs, the figure appears: 
to be walking, whereas the manner in’ 
which it supports itselt upon the spear is 
adapted only to 2 person in repose. 
The artist in giving his hero a‘costume’ 
in the antique style, ought also. to have 
given him a character appropriated to it: 
In this respect he had but two methods of 
proceeding, and the ancients farnished 
him with numerous models for the pur- 
pose. These were, either to preserve the 
resemblance of the face of the hero, and: 
to form an ideal model for the rest, or to 
copy the individual, and to represent him 
In ‘some cireumstance calculated to m= 
spire the highest idea of his person. 
Canova adopted neither the one nor the | 
other of these methods; he exhibits nei- 
ther the ideal character of a hero, nor 
the real character of the individual. Te 
‘this essential fault are added others: 
which are common ta bis other works. 
‘Fhe breast is large and heavy, the body: 
is too long, the foins are too small; the 
arms, the hands, and the feet, have na 
luck character > the head is eat im the: 
middle of the shoulders, and the left 
shoulder does net produce a physical 
effect consistent with its disposition.: 
Upon the whole, this. statue is very large, 
without any air of grandeur, The folds 
of the mantle are arranged with too much 
minuteness, and in 8 manner Inconsistent’ 
with the principal idea of the subjeet. 
There is no connoisseur but what inti- 
nitely preiers to this statue that of the 
King of Naples executed by the same: 
ar ist. 
Canova has since executed: several: 
other works: 
A copy of the Venus de Medicis, for the 
museum of Florence. 
A Venus coming out of the Bath, cO= 
vering her bosom and thighs witha dra 
pery. 
“A statue of the Princess Borghese, half: 
ae reclined on a couch, resting ‘her - 
ad on one hand, and holding an oh es i 
in ne re Other. 
A bust of Pope Pius WAR cai bren sell : 
A bust of the Emperor Vrancis 1. 
A monument 
