Lot 1017 | Italy | Two large sculptures of female dancers

TWO LARGE SCULPTURES OF FEMALE DANCERS.

Italy.
Date: 19th century.
Maker/Designer: After Antonio Canova.
Technique: Terracotta with old surface patina. Molded in two parts.
Description: Each with a tambour-shaped round base, the plinth with meander decor. On top two young
female figurines in antique robes and with flowers, standing in effortless dancing poses.
The folds of their garments are finely crafted and emphasise the motions of dance.
Measurement: Height each 113cm.

Literature:
- Bassi E. La Gipsoteca di Possagno: Sculture e dipinti di Antonio Canova, 1957. Figures listed and illustrated here p.189.
- Krahn, Volker: Canova und der Tanz, exhibition catalogue of the Bode Museum, 2016.
- Praz, Mario: L'opera completa del Canova, figs.172, 203 and 231.

The large terracotta figurines, which appear almost weightless, were modelled after Antonio Canova's sculptures 'Danzatrice con le Mani sui Fianchi' (1802-1812) and 'Danzatrice col dito al Mento' (1809-1814). Canova originally created the former in marble on commission for Giuseppina Beauharnais. It later came into the possession of Alexander I of Russia and is kept in the collection of the Hermitage in St. Petersburg. Plaster casts of the two figures are in the Gypsotheca Antonio Canova in Possagno.

Antonio Canova (1757-1822), one of the most important sculptors of Italian Neoclassicism, created several sketches and sculptures of dancers. They embodied his ideal image of female grace and represented his passion for dance. The sculptor D'Este reports in his memoirs that he and Canova used to go for walks around Rome and Trastevere on feast days when he was young "to see the common girls dance, which pleased him (Canova) very much in the innocence of these dancers and from which, thanks to the natural movements of these girls, he always drew a lesson, to the advantage of his art".