This year we celebrate one of Italy’s most important artistic figures, sculptor Antonio Canova, the main representative of sculptural neoclassicism in our country. Canova, who was born in Possagno, in the Treviso province of Veneto, in 1757, was known to his contemporaries as “the new Fidia” because of how much his work resembled in style and artistry, that of the greatest among all classical sculptors.

As often happens with creative geniuses, Canova didn’t have a simple life, especially during childhood. His father died when he was only four and his mother left him after marrying again. Young Antonio was, then, brought up by his grandparents, a factor that certainly influenced him as a person, but also as an artist: his grandad, Pasino Canova, was a sculptor and a foreman, and introduced him early to the secret of his art.