Focus on The Three Graces (Canova) and explain the Versions of the piece.
John Russell, the 6th Duke of Bedford, commissioned a version of the now famous work. He had visited Canova's studio in Rome in 1814 and had been immensely impressed by a carving of the Graces which Canova produced for the Empress Josephine. When the Empress died in May of the same year he offered to purchase the completed piece, but was unsuccessful as Josephine's son Eugène claimed it (his son Maximilian brought it to St. Petersburg, where it can now be found in the Hermitage Museum). Undeterred, the Duke commissioned another version for himself.
The sculpting process began in 1814 and was completed in 1817. In 1819 it was installed at the Duke's residence in Woburn Abbey. Canova travelled to England to supervise its installation, choosing to display it on a pedestal adapted from a marble plinth with a rotating top. This item is now owned jointly by the Victoria and Albert Museum and the National Galleries of Scotland, and is alternately displayed at each.
The version in the Hermitage is carved from veined marble and has a square pillar behind the left-hand figure (Euphrosyne). The Woburn Abbey version is carved from white marble and has a round pillar, and the central figure (Aglaea) has a slightly broader waist.
By the time he received the Duke's commission, Canova had already enjoyed an illustrious sculpting career. Born in the Italian province of Treviso in 1757, he was educated by his grandfather and his artistic talent was quickly noticed, especially by a senator, Giovanni Falieri, who introduced him to the sculptor Torretto. Torretto took Canova as apprentice for two years.Canova went on to enjoy small commissions, but his fame did not come until 1780 when he traveled to Rome and found himself inspired and invigorated by the scope and quality of the art and architecture. During this time Canova produced some of his most revered works including: Theseus and the Minotaur (1782), his monument to Pope Clement XIV (now displayed in the basilica dei Santi Apostoli) and the masterminding of the sumptuous tomb of Clement XIII in St. Peter's. In 1793 he produced Psyche Revived by Cupid's Kiss, a piece of immaculate composition and flowing beauty.
In 1802, he was called to Paris by Napoleon I to model an enormous figure of the emperor clutching a 'Victory' in his hand. He would also model a bust of the French leader as well as a statue of Napoleon's mother. The fact that these pieces represented only a fraction of his works during this period make his dual commissions to sculpt the Graces understandable.
The sculpture for the Duke of Bedford was based on depictions of the Graces which Canova had previously made, including a 1799 painting, other drawings, and a relief of the Graces that he executed around the same time.
In 1810, he modelled a terracotta sketch (now in the Musée de Lyon, France). But it is likely that his piece for the Empress Josephine and later the Duke was modelled mainly on the early drawings and a terracotta sketch model. We know that the immediate model for the work was a full-scale plaster group that has survived and is now in the Canova museum in Possagno. In the Duke of Bedford version, the graces are leaning on a pillar, though in earlier versions this feature was absent.
Napoleon Rome Woburn Abbey Clement XIV basilica dei Santi Apostoli Clement XIII Hermitage Museum marble Italian Torretto Psyche Revived by Cupid's Kiss beauty Empress Josephine plinth Euphrosyne terracotta Musée de Lyon Eugène pedestal National Galleries of Scotland Aglaea Pope Clement XIV statue Maximilian Napoleon I Treviso Possagno John Russell Duke Canova museum Duke of Bedford bust Victoria and Albert Museum St. Petersburg