As of September 25, 2022
The great exhibition "Canova, Glory of Treviso: from classical beauty to romantic announcement" arrives at the Bailo Museum, curated by Fabrizio Malachin, Giuseppe Pavanello and Nico Stringa. The exhibition presents not only Canova and the beauty of antiquity, but also Canova as an extraordinary contemporary herald.
The display uniquely recreates the exact environment planned by Canova in Palazzo Papafava, where the Ancient / Modern dichotomy reaches its peak: Apollo of the Belvedere approached with the triumphant Perseus, and the Gladiator Borghese, another famous work, in comparison with Creugante. It is the ‘perfect theorem’.
Explore a preview of some central themes
TREVISO ON THE CUSP OF THE EIGHTEENTH AND NINETEENTH CENTURIES
Antonio Canova (1757-1822) was the last great artist of the sovereign Venetian republic, known as the Serenissima, as well as being the first of the modern era.
PERSEUS TRIUMPHANT
Fiercely anti-Jacobin, Canova left Rome in 1798, when social tumult started to threaten public order
FROM CLASSICAL BEAUTY TO PERFECT THEOREM
The four plaster-casts seen in these rooms recreate the look that Canova had envisioned for the main reception room in the Palazzo Papafava in Padua: the classic Belvedere Apollo alongside his Perseus triumphant, while the Borghese Gladiator, another much celebrated piece, is juxtaposed to his Creugante.
ENGRAVINGS
Antonio Canova, was among the first to understand the importance of promoting his own creations.
LOVE AND PSYCHE
The story of Psyche was a common topic for artists, and especially painters, in the late eighteenth century. Only, Canova, however, was able to rework the idea, his Psyche Revived by Cupid’s Kiss informed with philosophical and Romantic insights.
THE SLEEPING ENDYMION
The Sleeping Endymion (L’Endimione) is one of Canova’s most beautiful creations, for the ineffable delicacy of the shapes, and for its overwhelming emotional appeal to the senses. Silence and solitude that, for Italians, evoke the poetry of Giacomo Leopardi
BAS-RELIEFS: THE TRAGIC SUBLIME MEETS GRACE AND GOOD HUMOUR
A skilful approach to narrative is essential to the sculptor who wants to challenge the supremacy of painting.
CELEBRATING CANOVA IN TREVISO
This section addresses the relationship between Canova and the city of Treviso, which is 43km (27 miles) from the artist’s home-town of Possagno. While Treviso provided the backdrop to much of Canova’s fame during his lifetime, this link has been cemented by the city’s attention to honouring his legacy afterwards, not to mention spearheading his critical reappraisal in the 1950s.
FABIO ZONTA FOR CANOVA
The sublime, that profound reverence inspired by natural phenomena, can also spring from works of art that go beyond the human.
THE NEW NINETEENTH CENTURY GALLERY
For a sculptor who wants to compete with painting, creations of a narrative nature are essential
FRANCESCO HAYEZ’S FIRST MASTERPIECE
Francesco Hayez’s first known painting, the Self-portrait with family members (l’Autoritratto con famigliari) can be considered to mark the end of the eighteenth century and the start of the nineteenth for painters and painting in Venice and the Veneto region. It was acquired in about 1890 by Luigi Bailo, founder of the Treviso City Museum.
Luigi Bailo Museum
From Abbot Bailo’s vocation for collecting, to the artistic heritage that is the pride of the city: the Casa dell’Arte del ‘900 opens its doors, showing all the wonder of a century of profound changes and new languages, reliving a story of intense gazes, deep feelings and restless memories.
Santa Caterina Museum
The convent of Santa Caterina is part of the beating heart of History, culture, civilization and beauty that makes Treviso one of the hidden pearls of the Italian artistic panorama. Strengthened by its collections, from the archaeological to the art gallery, and equally fascinating for its architecture and atmosphere, the Museum of Santa Caterina, in the heart of the city centre, welcomes visitors in the most typical way of Treviso: with grace, warmth and elegance.
With the patronage and sponsorship of
