From the workshop of Antonio Canova (1757-1822) Italian, circa 1819

on later grey marble socle.

Sotheby's London, December 9, 1993, lot 190
Anthony Roth, London
thence by descent

Princeton Museum of Art, Princeton University, New Jersey, on loan August 1996 to November 2007

Minor wear (particularly around the edges). Minor chips (two filled) on her chest. A small (1 1/2 inch) repair along the outermost edge of her veil on her proper right side. Some inclusions in the marble (visible on the reverse). There is a small circle at the back of her head that has small restorations. There is a restored piece of marble on the reverse at the proper left side of the veil and shoulder. Beautifully carved. Otherwise overall very good condition. Less grey and more white than in photograph.
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.

RELATED LITERATURE
Leopold Cicognara, Biographia di Antonio Canova, Venice, 1823, pp. 68-70
Antoine Quatremère de Quincy, Canova et ses Ouvrages ou Memoires Historiques, Paris, 1834, p. 317
Vittoria Malamani, Memorie del Conte Cicognara tratte dai Documetenti Generali, Venice, 1888, vol. II, p. 193
Vittoria Malamani, Un'amicizia di Antonio Canova (lettere del Canova al Conte Cicognara), Citta di Castello, 1890, pp. 155, 158, 166, and 168
Gerard Hubert, La Sculpture dans l'Italie Napoléanienne, Paris, 1964, p. 474, no. 16
Elena Bassi, Antonia Canova a Possagno, Treviso, 1972, p. 93, no. 235
Giuseppe Pavanello and Mario Praz, L'Opera completa del Canova, I Classici dell'Arte, Milan, 1976, nos. 289, 290, and 338
Fred Licht, Canova, New York, 1983, pp. 126-130

Canova's first bust of Beatrice, Dante's beloved, now in Possagno, was modeled in plaster in 1818. Shortly thereafter, the marble was completed and given to Count Leopoldo Cicognara and his wife, Lucia Fantinati, in gratitude  for their work on the biography of Canova (this bust later passed into the collection of the Princess Giovanelli, Venice in 1922). Canova was so pleased with his composition that other versions of the Beatrice were produced between 1819 and 1822. Cicognara (op. cit.) records a marble Beatrice made for Cavalier Stephan Graf Szechevj of Vienna in 1819, which by 1936 was in the castle Negycenk. However, the subsequent history of both the Cicognara and Szechvj busts has remained unknown. Quatremère de Quincy (op.cit.) refers to a bust in the collection of Count Rasponi, Ravenna but Hugh Honour noted (from written communication) that this is an error perpetuated by later writers. Hubert (op. cit.) further mentions a marble in the Museum of Archangelo, formerly the Youssoupov castle.

A substantial part of Canova's sculptural production was dedicated  to the realization of portraits of either real or ideal persons. The latter category, the testi ideali, as Canova called it, is a type which the sculptor developed towards the end of his life and made peculiarly his own. The bust of Beatrice seems to have been one of the most popular of Canova's testi ideali.

It is not possible to determine whether the present sculpture is one of the undocumented marble versions recorded above. It comes from a Swiss private collection and was traditionally believed to have been acquired in Austria, but there is no firm documentary evidence that it is the Szechevj version of 1819 and it may well have been produced for another patron.