Reclining Naiad

Antonio Canova Italian
 Commissioned by John Bligh, 4th Earl of Darnley

On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 515

This is a variant of the Reclining Venus with Cupid, now in Buckingham Palace, which was made for Lord Cawdor in 1814 and ceded by him to the Prince Regent. Our work, commissioned by the fourth earl of Darnley, was completed by Canova's assistents after his death and delivered to the earl at Cobham Hall in Kent in 1824. The original plaster model for the Naiad, completed in 1817, is in the Gipsoteca di Possagno. Compositional prototypes include Canova's Pauline Borghese as Venus Victrix and an ancient Hermaphrodite, both in the Borghese Gallery, Rome. Numerous slight indentations throughout the marble may be visible remains of the pointing system.

Reclining Naiad, Antonio Canova (Italian, Possagno 1757–1822 Venice) , and his studio, Carrara marble, Italian, Rome

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Reclining Naiad, Antonio Canova (Italian, Possagno 1757–1822 Venice) , and his studio, Carrara marble, Italian, Rome
Reclining Naiad, Antonio Canova (Italian, Possagno 1757–1822 Venice) , and his studio, Carrara marble, Italian, Rome
Reclining Naiad, Antonio Canova (Italian, Possagno 1757–1822 Venice) , and his studio, Carrara marble, Italian, Rome
Reclining Naiad, Antonio Canova (Italian, Possagno 1757–1822 Venice) , and his studio, Carrara marble, Italian, Rome
Reclining Naiad, Antonio Canova (Italian, Possagno 1757–1822 Venice) , and his studio, Carrara marble, Italian, Rome
Reclining Naiad, Antonio Canova (Italian, Possagno 1757–1822 Venice) , and his studio, Carrara marble, Italian, Rome
Reclining Naiad, Antonio Canova (Italian, Possagno 1757–1822 Venice) , and his studio, Carrara marble, Italian, Rome
Reclining Naiad, Antonio Canova (Italian, Possagno 1757–1822 Venice) , and his studio, Carrara marble, Italian, Rome

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