The J. Paul Getty Museum

Apollo Crowning Himself

Object Details

Title:

Apollo Crowning Himself

Artist/Maker:

Antonio Canova (Italian, 1757 - 1822)

Culture:

Italian

Place:

Italy (Place Created)

Date:

1781–1782

Medium:

Marble

Object Number:

95.SA.71

Dimensions:

84.7 × 41.9 × 26.4 cm, 30.391 kg (33 3/8 × 16 1/2 × 10 3/8 in., 67 lb.)

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Object Description

As Ovid told the story in his Metamorphoses, when the beautiful nymph Daphne finally escaped the pursuing Apollo by turning into a laurel tree, the Roman god of music and poetry pledged his unrequited love: "Although you cannot be my wife, you shall at least be my tree; I shall always wear you on my hair, on my quiver, O Laurel." In this marble, half-life-size statue inspired by this episode of the Metamorphoses, Apollo crowns himself with a laurel wreath. Nude except for sandals, his lyre hangs on the tree trunk that supports a piece of rumpled drapery. He stands in contrapposto, a balanced stance characterized by the opposition of straight and bent limbs, in a moment of reflection after the dramatic chase.

Apollo's nudity, his broad, muscular chest, and his relaxed, balanced pose all recall famous antique representations of the god. But while sculptor Antonio Canova clearly emulated several antiques, his Apollo is not a copy of an already existing statue. The commission for the marble was the result of a competition organized by Don Abbondio Rezzonico, nephew of the Venetian Pope Clement XIII. It is Canova's first fully classicizing work, carved in the Neoclassical style for which he soon became famous.

Provenance
Provenance
1782 - 1810

Don Abbondio Rezzonico, Italian, 1742 - 1810 (Rome, Italy), by bequest to Filippo Bernardo Orsini, 1810.

1810 - before 1816

Prince Filippo Bernardo Orsini of Solofra, Italian, 1742 - 1824 (Rome, Italy)

by 1816 - after 1824

Baron Martial Noël Pierre Daru, French, 1774 - 1827 (moved the sculpture to France sometime before 1824)

19th century

Duke of Treviso, Italian,

- 1951

Henri Chassinat-Grigot, French, 1877 - 1962 (Paris, France) [sold, Galerie Charpentier, Paris, 17 April 1951, lot 73, to Fabius Frères.]

1951 - 1957

Fabius Frères Gallery, French, founded 1882, dissolved 2011 (Paris, France), sold to George Encil, 1957.

1957 - after 1990

George Encil (Freeport, Bahamas) [Sotheby's, London, 13 December 1990, lot 94, unsold.]

after 1990 - 1995

Rainer Zietz Ltd. (London, United Kingdom), sold to the J. Paul Getty Museum, 1995.

Exhibitions
Exhibitions
Antonio Canova (March 22 to September 30, 1992) (lent by a private collector)
  • Museo Correr (Venice), March 22 to September 30, 1992
Rome on the Grand Tour (January 8 to August 11, 2002)
  • The J. Paul Getty Museum at the Getty Center (Los Angeles), January 8 to August 11, 2002
Canova e la Venere Vincitrice (October 16, 2007 to February 10, 2008)
  • Museo e Galleria Borghese (Rome), October 16, 2007 to February 10, 2008
Antiquity Revived: Neoclassical Art in the Eighteenth Century (December 2, 2010 to May 30, 2011)
  • Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, March 20 to May 30, 2011
Canova e l'Antico (March 28 to June 30, 2019)
  • Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli (Naples), March 28 to June 30, 2019
Canova | Thorvaldsen. La nascita della scultura moderna (October 24, 2019 to June 28, 2020)
  • Gallerie d'Italia - Piazza Scala (Venice), October 24, 2019 to June 28, 2020
Bibliography
Bibliography

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Tadini, Faustino. La sculture e le pitture di Antonio Canova, pubblicate fino a quest'anno 1795 (Venice: Palese, 1796), p. 37.

"Abbozzo di biografia di Antonio Canova" (c. 1804). Manuscript in the Biblioteca Civica of Bassano del Grappa, published in Studi Canoviani (Rome: Bulzoni, 1973), p. 229.

Fernow, Carl Ludwig. "Über der Bildhaur Canova und disen Werke." Römische Studien (Zurich: Bei J. Gessner, 1806), vol. 1, pp. 75-76.

Neumayr, Antonio. Illustrazione del Prato della Valle (Padua: Seminario, 1807), p. 329.

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Catalogo cronologico delle sculture di Antonio Canova pubblicato dietro richiesta di S.A.R. il Principe di Bavaria (Rome: Bourliè, 1817), p. 4.

Paravia, Pier Alessandro. Notizie intorno alla vita di Antonio Canova (Venice: Orlandelli, 1822), p. 53.

Cicognara, Leopoldo. Biografia di Antonio Canova (Venice: Missiaglia, 1823), pp. 13, 58, 82.

Falier, Giuseppe. Memorie per servire alla vita del Marchese Antonio Canova (Venice: Alvisopoli, 1823), p. 19, n.1.

Albrizzi Teotochi, Isabella. Opere di scultura e di plastica di Antonio Canova (Pisa: Capurro, 1824), vol. 4, pp. 102-44.

Cicognara, Leopoldo. Storia della scultura dal suo risorgimento in Italia fino al secolo di Canova (Prato: Giachetti, 1824), vol. 7, p. 258.

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Rosini, Giovanni. Saggio sulla vita e sulle opere di Antonio Canova (Pisa: Capurro, 1825), p. 8.

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Quatremère de Quincy, Antoine Chrysostôme. Canova et ses ouvrages or Mémoires historiques sur la vie et les travaux de ce célèbre artiste (Paris: Le Clere, 1834), pp. 26-27.

d'Este, Antonio. Memorie di Antonio Canova (Florence: Le Monnier, 1864), pp. 26, 303.

Malamani, Vittorio. Canova (Milan: Hoepli, 1911), p. 19.

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Rossi, Mario. Catalogo illustrato delle opere di Antonio Canova (Treviso: Libreria Editrice Canova, 1950), p. 45.

Bassi, Elena. La Gipsoteca di Possagno (Venice: Neri Pozza, 1957), pp. 49-50.

Muñoz, Antonio. Antonio Canova (Rome: Palombi, 1957), p. 22.

Honour, Hugh. "Antonio Canova and the Anglo-Romans, Part II: The First Five Years in Rome." Connoisseur 144 (January 1960), p. 225.

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Honour, Hugh. "Canova's Theseus and Minotaur." Victoria and Albert Museum Yearbook 1 (1969), pp. 4-5.

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