Exhibiting Antonio Canova : Display and the Transformation of Sculptural Theory / Christina Ferando.

"Amsterdam University Press"

List of Illustrations Acknowledgments Introduction. Canova on Display Chapter One. Imagining Sculptural Practice Chapter Two. Reevaluating Ancients and Moderns Chapter Three. Anatomizing the Female Nude Chapter Four. Challenging the Supremacy of Painting Chapter Five. Defining Modern Sculpture Conclusion. Aftereffects Bibliography Index

Exhibiting Antonio Canova: Display and the Transformation of Sculptural Theory argues that the display of Canova's sculptures in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries acted as a catalyst for discourse across a broad range of subjects. By enshrining his marble figures alongside plaster casts of ancient works, bathing them in candlelight, staining and waxing their surfaces, and even setting them in motion on rotating bases, Canova engaged viewers intellectually, physically, and emotionally. These displays inspired discussions on topics as diverse as originality and artistic production, the association between the sculptural surface, flesh, and anatomy, the relationship between painting and sculpture, and the role of public museums. Beholders' discussions also shaped the legacy of important sculptural theories. They helped usher in their modern definitions and created the lenses through which we experience and interpret works of art, establishing modern attitudes not just towards sculpture, but towards cultural patrimony in general.

Cover -- Table of Contents -- Acknowledgements -- Introduction: Canova on Display -- 1. Imagining Sculptural Practice -- Art as a Political Tool -- Sculpture, Eroticism, and the Senses -- Shifting Models of Display and Engagement -- Sculptural Practice in the Literary Imagination -- The Authority of the Author -- An Imperfect Understanding of Sculpture -- 2. Reevaluating Ancients and Moderns -- Imitation as Creative Practice -- The Artist as Beholder -- The Studio as Exhibition Space -- Perseus in the Museum -- Changing Ideas of Cultural Patrimony -- Imitation as Plagiarism

3. Anatomizing the Female Nude -- The Creation of a Modern Venus -- Venus in the Boudoir -- The Tinted Surface -- The Softness of Flesh -- The Anatomy of Sculpture -- Venus and the Clinical Gaze -- 4. Challenging the Supremacy of Painting -- Canova and the Veneto -- Uniting Canova and Titian -- Promoting Contemporary Venetian Art -- Celebrating Venice's Cultural Patrimony -- Restoring Titian's Assumption of the Virgin -- Establishing the Supremacy of Sculpture -- 5. Defining Modern Sculpture -- A Foreign Artist in France -- Romanticizing Artistic Production -- Expression and the Art of Sculpture

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