Venus Italica

The Venus Italica is a marble sculpture commissioned by Napoléon Bonaparte and fashioned by Italian sculptor Antonio Canova.

[3][4] Early 19th century president of the Accademia di Belle Arti di Firenze (Florence Academy of Fine Arts) Count Giovanni degli Alessandri encouraged the ingenious Neoclassical sculptor Antonio Canova to create a copy of the Venus de Medici.

[5] Canova approved and set to work on the Venus Italica, which is considered to be one of his masterpieces in both, artistic conception and craftship.

According to art critic Edward Lucie-Smith the artistic expression of sexual vulnerability is conveyed better than on the original Venus de Medici.

Intrigued by the effects of the light and shade of the candles on the translucent marble surface Canova soon began to further soften the transitions between the various parts of the statue and rub them down with special tools and pumice stone, sometimes for weeks or months.