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Italiano

Perseo con la testa di Medusa

1804–6
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 548
Tra il 1797 e il 1801, Canova scolpì una statua di Perseo basata sulla statua dell’Apollo Belvedere risalente al II secolo d.C. conservata nei Musei Vaticani. Perseo è raffigurato mentre regge la testa di Medusa, da lui uccisa con l’aiuto della dea Minerva. Quando la statua fu mostrata nello studio di Canova, il papa Pio VII la acquistò affinché occupasse lo spazio che apparteneva all’Apollo Belvedere prima che venisse temporaneamente portato in Francia da Napoleone. La versione conservata al Metropolitan Museum, commissionata poco tempo dopo dalla contessa polacca Waleria Tarnowska, fu scolpita apportandovi diverse varianti. Nella sua elegante maestosità, il Perseo di Canova divenne un modello di bellezza eroica neoclassica.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Titolo: Perseo con la testa di Medusa
  • Artista: Antonio Canova, Italiano, 1757-1822
  • Data: 1804-6
  • Materiale e tecnica: Marmo
  • Dimensioni: Alt. 242,6 cm
  • Crediti: Fletcher Fund, 1967
  • Numero d'inventario: 67.110.1
  • Curatorial Department: European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

More Artwork

More Artwork
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Head of Medusa, Antonio Canova Italian, Plaster cast, with modern metal rod, Italian, Rome
Head of Medusa
Antonio Canova
1806–7
Bust of Napoleon, Antonio Canova Italian, White marble (probably Carrara), Italian
Bust of Napoleon
Antonio Canova
ca. 1808–14
Drawing after a Lithograph of a Recumbent Lion., Antonio Canova Italian, Brush and black and gray wash, graphite and black chalk
Drawing after a Lithograph of a Recumbent Lion.
Antonio Canova
n.d.
The Vestal, Antonio Canova Italian, Marble, Italian
The Vestal
Antonio Canova
probably ca. 1819–23
Study of a Nude Man in Profile turned to the Right, Antonio Canova Italian, Pen and brown ink over graphite
Study of a Nude Man in Profile turned to the Right
Antonio Canova
n.d.

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