Museum Exhibition
Canova: Sketching in Clay
Art Institute of Chicago
November 19, 2023 – March 18, 2024
This first exhibition to focus on Canova’s lesser-known but unforgettable work in clay, this presentation brings 33 terracotta models together alongside plaster casts and finished marbles to reveal how the artist developed his ideas, from the first brilliant spark of imagination to his laboriously finished statues.
Exhibition artworks
Representative work

Bernardino Nocchi
Deposition
1800
Oil on canvas
88 × 65.5 cm (34 3/4 × 25 3/4 in.); Framed: 98.1 × 76.7 × 7 cm (38 5/8 × 30 3/16 × 2 3/4 in.)
View artwork at the museumFeatured works

Antonio Canova
Head of Medusa
c. 1801
Plaster
31 × 31.8 × 30.5 cm (12 1/4 × 12 9/16 × 12 1/16 in.); With socle: 116.3 × 53.4 × 49.6 cm (45 3/4 × 21 × 19 1/2 in.)
View at museum
Antonio Canova
Bust of Paris
1809
Marble
69.9 × 30.8 × 28 cm (27 1/2 × 12 1/8 × 11 in.); With socle: 134.7 × 58.5 cm (53 × 23 in.)
View at museum
Antonio Canova
Self-Portrait of the Sculptor Antonio Canova
1812
Plaster
90.5 × 47.6 × 28.6 cm (35 5/8 × 18 3/4 × 11 1/4 in.)
View at museum

Antonio Canova
Paris Leaning on Tree Stump, Front View, from Oeuvre de Canova
1817
Engraving and etching in black on ivory wove paper
Plate: 57 × 40.7 cm (22 1/2 × 16 1/16 in.); Sheet: 86 × 62 cm (33 7/8 × 24 7/16 in.)
View at museum
Antonio Canova
Paris Leaning on Tree Stump, Back View, from Oeuvre de Canova
1817
Engraving and etching in black on ivory wove paper
Plate: 57.5 × 40.8 cm (22 11/16 × 16 1/8 in.); Sheet: 86 × 62 cm (33 7/8 × 24 7/16 in.)
View at museum9 documented works in this exhibition
View all 9 documented works