Antonio Canova was Europe's greatest Neoclassic sculptor, fabled for his frostily perfect marble statues of antique goddesses and fashionable princesses (sometimes in the same work, as in the Galleria Borghese's statue of the nearly naked Principessa Pauline Borghese posing as a "Victorious Venus"). He was given commissions by the poshest titles in the land and many of those VIPs ventured to his private atelier workshop, now atmospherically restored. Three salons are crammed to the gills with Canova's modelli, study sketches, and tools of the trade, all evoking 19th-century Rome and making this a must-do for connoisseurs.
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