The criticism leveled against Canova’s Perseus— that it failed to live up to its antique model—was aimed equally at other works by the artist. His Venus Italica, for instance, was understood as a replacement for the Venus de’Medici, which, like so many other antiquities, had also entered the Louvre’s collections. Installed in 1812 as Canova approached the height of his fame, the Venus Italica raised similar concerns about cultural patrimony, the role of imitation in the production of the fine arts, and the relationship between ancient and modern sculpture. Yet the Venus Italica, like so many of Canova’s female nudes, was also deemed beautiful and graceful; Canova excelled in the genre. The supple surface of the Venus Italica therefore enabled viewers to grapple with the legacy of Baroque “softness,” sculpture’s desirability, and changing attitudes towards the female body and its anatomy.

The Creation of a Modern Venus

Canova’s Venus Italica cannot be understood outside of the context of Florence’s artistic history (Fig. 3.1). While the city lacked the sublime beauty of Naples and the classical culture of Rome, it was the birthplace of Renaissance culture. The city boasted the oldest academy on the Italian peninsula, the Accademia delle Arti del Disegno, as well as what was arguably one of the first “public” exhibition spaces, the Tribuna of the Uffizi. Completed in 1589 and designed to showcase the collection of the Grand Duke, Francesco I de’Medici, by the eighteenth century it was considered a mandatory stop on the Grand Tour.