Canova revisited in a new essay collection on his world
Two centuries after his death, Antonio Canova is drawing fresh attention through a new book of essays on his work and reception. It is a chance to look again at a sculptor who balanced technical control, mythological storytelling and Neoclassical ideals.
On 20 October 2026, The Art Newspaper revisits the shifting reputation of Antonio Canova (1757-1822), the Italian sculptor who was once celebrated, then dismissed, and is now being reassessed. Livio Pestilli’s Canova and His World gathers essays that examine the critical debates around his work, the technical demands of his marbles and his role in helping recover art looted by Napoleon.
The article explains why Canova mattered to his contemporaries: his marble figures seemed to make almost impossible forms feel physically present. Cupid and Psyche Embracing, The Three Graces and Perseus show an artist able to combine poise, restraint and narrative force without settling into a single formula.
A view of craft as much as style
For artists and for readers interested in drawing and painting, the appeal lies less in a fixed canon than in a way of thinking through making. Canova works between the clay model and the finished marble, between spontaneity and polish, raising practical questions about how an idea is translated into visible form.
The piece also underlines the role of criticism in shaping an artist’s afterlife. Canova was praised, doubted and sometimes judged too refined or too distant from the antique; revisiting those responses helps show how art history is built, and why an artist can remain relevant by resisting easy labels.
Source : The Art Newspaper