By Antonio Canova (possagno, 1 November 1757 - Venice, 13 October 1822), Lions

By Antonio Canova (Possagno, 1 November 1757 - Venice, 13 October 1822)

Vigilante Lion and Sleeping Lion

Plaster on marble base, cm 28 x 40 x 15

The two terracottas take up the iconographic and stylistic dictates of a famous couple of Canova figures, the waking Lion and the sleeping Lion that the artist carved for the tomb of Pope Clement XIII, in the century Carlo Rezzonico, between 1783 and 1792. The tomb of Clement XIII is one of the most ambitious and sophisticated projects of Antonio Canova with regard to funerary sculpture: this, in fact, is designed and built on three different levels. The first is occupied by two wonderful lions, one awake and the other asleep, who protect the access to the tomb while on the sides are placed the Genius of Death and Religion; the second level is occupied by the sarcophagus containing the remains of the pontiff while at the top of the composition is placed a full-bodied portrait of Clement XIII, represented as kneeling on a pillow while praying, that, in sign of humility, He laid the tiara on the ground. The two lions placed inside the Basilica of Saint Peter in the Vatican had such great success that the artist wanted to replicate the sleeping lion for the funeral monument of Maria Cristina of Austria. From the stylistic point of view, it is undeniable that the two felines of the papal tomb and even the second version were masterfully carved by Canova. The laying of the paws, the manes, the attitude of the animals and their expressions make these majestic animals look palpitant and alive.