FOREWORD
PRINCE DOMENICO ANTONIO PALLAVICINO
Four years after the first volume was published, the final “movement” in the Antonio Canova. Four Tempos series, dedicated to the Canova plaster casts at the Gypsotheca in Possagno, has been completed. The collaboration between the Fondazione Pallavicino and 5 Continents Editions has thus come to a successful conclusion. In a period affected first by the pandemic and then by unfavourable conditions, it is today a source of particular satisfaction for the Fondazione Pallavicino and for me personally as its chairman to contemplate what we have been able to achieve by remaining faithful to our mission: to invest in culture, despite the increasing commitment that this entails. In his penetrating photographic quest, Luigi Spina has turned his eye once again and with ever-renewed intensity on plaster’s imperfect form, albeit expressing as it does Canova’s genius in action and disclosing the essence of his sculpture. The Antonio Canova. Four Tempos exhibition held at the Gypsotheca in Possagno, which features a selection of photographs from Luigi Spina’s Four Tempos, is a fitting testament to this great sensibility and a worthy seal on this venture of great cultural consequence. The works in this fourth volume blend mythological subject matter with portraits, which are never merely to order. The dramatic clash between Hector and Ajax, the eternal beauty of Venus and the portraits of patrons in allegorical poses reveal the enduring power of the classical model of harmony and perfection. I take the opportunity once again to thank Vittorio Sgarbi, the artistic director of the Fondazione Pallavicino, for agreeing to provide the commentary in this final instalment as well, accompanying readers in their exploration of art and beauty.
DAEDALUS AND ICARUS, 1777–1779
VESTAL, 1818
HEAD OF HEBE, 1820
SELF-PORTRAIT, 1811–1812
5 CONTINENTS EDITIONS
Art Direction
Stefano Montagnana
Editorial Coordination
Aldo Carioli
Translation Julian Comoy
Editing Emily Ligniti
Pre-press Pixel Studio, Bresso, Italy
All rights reserved
© Fondazione Pallavicino ETS 2024
© For the texts: Domenico Antonio Pallavicino, Vittorio Sgarbi, Luigi Spina
© For the images: Luigi Spina
For the present edition
© 2024 – 5 Continents Editions, Milan
No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
ISBN 979-12-5460-056-6
Distributed by ACC Art Books throughout the world, excluding Italy. Distributed in Italy and Switzerland by Messaggerie Libri S.p.A.
www.fivecontinentseditions.com www.luigispina.it
Printed and bound in Italy in March 2024 by Conti Tipocolor, Calenzano, Italy, for 5 Continents Editions, Milan
FONDAZIONE PALLAVICINO, GENOVA
President
Domenico Antonio Pallavicino
Artistic Director
Vittorio Sgarbi
IN COLLABORATION WITH
FONDAZIONE CANOVA ONLUS – BOARD OF DIRECTORS
President Massimo Zanetti
Vice-President
Valerio Favero
Councilors
Elisa Basso, Marco Comellini, Isabella Finato, Gianantonio Tramet, Alessandro Vardanega
Auditor
Gianmichele Visentin Graziano
MUSEO GYPSOTHECA ANTONIO CANOVA
Director
Moira Mascotto
Secretary
Eugenio Tamburrino
Teaching and Events
Irene Longo
Technical Department
Lino Zanesco
Exhibitions and Projects Department
Chiara Lazzarin
Ticket Office and Advance Booking
Maria Laura Bizzotto, Giada Tonin
Communication
Laura Casarsa