Italian school of the 19th century, after Antonio Canova (17 - Lot 117

Italian school of the 19th century, after Antonio Canova (1757 -1822) Dancer with hands on hips or Erato, muse of the Danse amoureuse Dancer with finger on chin Pair of bronzes with brown patina H. 54.5 and base H. 3cm and H. 54.3 cm and marble bases H. 3 cm Reference works : Antonio Canova, La Danzatrice, marble, H.:117cm, Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica, Rome Antonio Canova, La Danzatrice con le mani sui fianchi, 1811-1812, marble, H.: 179 cm, Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg, n°inv.H.ck-18 Related literature -Mario Praz, L'opera completa del Canova, 1976, pp. 113 and 121. - Androsov S./ Mazzocca F./ Paolucci A. (a cura di), Canova: l'ideale classico tra scultura e pittura, 2009, pp. 268-271 This pair of charming bronzes reproduces the models of the famous dancers by neoclassical sculptor Antonio Canova. The artist, a music lover and great aficionado of contemporary dance, dealt with the subject of Dance throughout his career. For Joséphine de Beauharnais, he created La Danseuse avec les mains sur les hanches, presented at the Salon of 1812. The work was a huge success. After Joséphine's death in 1815, the sculpture was acquired by the Russian emperor (it is now kept at the Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg). In 1809, Canova executed La Danseuse le doigt au menton at the request of banker Domenico Manzoni di Forli. The marble, of the same proportion as the Dancer at the Hermitage, was completed in 1814 (now in the Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica in Rome). Until his death, Canova executed various versions of these two sculptures, which appeared in pairs in the finest collections from the 19th century onwards, and were subsequently offered for publication as small art bronzes.