Fe 
a 
1605.) 
that of having adopted fully and freely, 
the doétrine .of antiquity, and of having 
endeavoured to follow, it matters not to 
what point, the route which their chef 
ad’ euvres have traced out. It-muft lke- 
wife be admitted, that there is neither fer- 
vile imitation, plagiavifm, nor compilation 
in his works; they are his own. His fta- 
tues are not made by piece-meal. He 
compofes, executes, and finifhes them 
according to his own ideas, and in his ewn 
manner. The figure of his pugilitt proves 
what I advance. The ftatue 1s uniform 
from the head to the feet, and the charac- 
ter isuniform. All his works, that I am 
acquainted with, appear to bear the fame 
fiamp. His figure of Cupid in his group 
of Cupid and Plyche ftanding, though 
in the ancient ftyle, feems to belong fo 
entirely to him, that if, at firft, you ima- 
gine it to be an imitation of an ancient 
work, you afterwards find yourfelf ata 
lo's to fay from what work it was imitat- 
ed. If what I advance be true, M. Canova 
mult likewile poifefs, in his way, the very 
rare merit of originality. 
For the reft, no artift makes lefs a fecret 
of his manner of operation. His friends 
have feen with what extraordinary promop- 
titude he is capable of producing, éven a 
coloffal model, of dafacing and recompofing 
it, in the {pace of a fewdays. This pro- 
digious facility of execution and compofi- 
tion is incompatible with the frigidity of 
the copyilt, and the calculations of the 
plagiary. 
_ IT have already obferved, that I had no 
intention of pafling a judgment on his ta- 
Jents and works. The object of this notice 
is only to facilitate to thofe, who are un- 
acquainted with him, the means of appre- 
ciating his reputation. It is founded, in 
the firtt place, on a very great number of 
produétions, The fubjoined lift of his 
works mult excite the greater aftonifh- 
ment, as they wereall executed by himfelf, 
in the {pace of twenty years; and though 
M. Canova is expeditious in his models, 
yet he is extremely difficult in the marble. 
_ B:fore he came to Rome, he had made a 
group of Apolloand Daphne; an Orpheus: 
as large aslife; an Efculapius; a group 
of Deedalus and Icarus ; the Statue of the 
Marguis Poleni at Padua. 
At Rome his firft work was the group, 
iM marble, of Thefeus and the Minotaur, 
Which has already been mentioned. 
The marble Maufoleum of Pope Gan- 
ganelli, 12 ieet in height, accompanied 
with two Virtues, of ten feet. 
_A Statue of Cupid, in marble, after the 
Young Polith Prince Lubomirtki. 
“MONTHLY Mac. No. 123. 
Memoir of ld. Canova * 
513 
The fame with an ideal Head,-for Colo- 
nel Campbell. 
A third, for Holland. 
Five bas-reliets, the fubje&ts of which 
were taken from the Iliad and Odyfley. 
A group of Venus lying down and 
Adonis. 
A group of Cupid and Pfyche, lying. | 
Pf{yche alone, 
The Maulolzum of Pope Rezzonico, 17 
feet high, accompanied with two figures 
of 12 fet, in marble, two Lions and a 
as-relief of Juftice, with the balance in 
her hand. 
A group, in marble, of Venus and 
Adonis, ftanding, for Naples. 
_ Agroup of Cupid and Plyche, ftande 
ing. 
Another of the fame, lying. 
The Penitent Magdalen, in marble. 
An Apollo, of the fize of a youth 12 
years old. ; , Phy 
Chrift taken from the Crofs, the marble 
of which was executed by another fculp- 
tor. : 
The Statue of Perfeus, holding the head 
of Medufa, whichis in the mufeum of the 
Vatican. 
The Pugilit Creugas, likewife in the 
mufeum. 
Hercules killing his own Children. 
A group of Hercules and Lykas. 
The Statue of the King ef Naples. 
Tie Maufoleum of the Arch-duchefs 
Chriftina, confifting of eight figures of: 
large fize, in marble. 
A Lion, a Child, and a Portrait in me-’ 
daliion ; for Vienna. 
The Statue of the Pugilii Damoxenes. 
The Coloffal Statue of Bonaparte. 
The Portrait of the reigning Pope. 
A Coloflal Model, executed from imagi- 
nation, of the Princefs Borghefe. 
The model recently terminated by, a 
Venus leaving the bath. 
The Statue of Palamedes, the model 
of which was begun many years fince. 
All thefe, befides a great number of 
bas-reliefs, &c. M. Canova, has executed, 
or is ftill employed upon, and he is no 
more than 47 years old. E 
This long catalogue of works, already 
executed, will not turprize thofe who are 
acquainted with the fecundity of the 
Grecian, and even of great modern 
artifts. The want of employment which 
{culpture has experienced during the 
laft fifty years, has probably contri- 
buted te deprefs the genius of fatuaries, 
and to render it ftationary. The art and 
the knowledge of it are doubtlefs capable 
of being extended to infin.ty, but chat is 
3x ne 
