Italian School

Canova, exh. cat., Correr Museum, Venice, 1992, no. 132, pp. 282-289

C. Miner, 'Hearst's Canova' in Apollo, November 2008

The figure is dirty and could be easily cleaned by a professional. There are black stains to her back consistent with rigging and there is a green stain to her left wrist. Some minor yellow areas from natural color of the stone. There is a chip to the top of her ring finger. Chips to edge of the grey marble plinth.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Antonio Canova's Venus Italica was created to replace the antique Medici Venus which had been forcibly taken from the Tribuna of the Uffizi by Napoleonic forces during their occupation of Italy. Canova took on the commission in 1803 and asked for a cast of the original which had been installed in the Louvre. Like Pygmalion, Canova breathed life into the static antique model reinventing it in a graceful contemporary idiom. Cicognara noted the naturalism of the Canova's Venus in a letter to the artist of 1812: 'on quitting the bath the limbs begin to shiver, the arms and hands are drawn to the breast and the thighs come together as the body seeks through the motion of the muscles and the skin the towel that will dry them.'

The Venus Italica was one of Canova's most popular models and the accomplished marble carvers of Italy made versions throughout the nineteenth century.