660. Antonio Canova (1757-1822), Italian,

Pauline Bonaparte as Venus Triumphant,

1805-1808. Marble, Length: 200 cm.

Galleria Borghese, Rome. Neoclassicism.

 

 

Sister of Napoleon Bonaparte, Pauline was thirty-two when she posed for Canova. Widow at twenty-two of General Leclerc, victim of yellow fever, in 1803 she married Prince Camille Borghese, heir to the noble Roman family. Pauline Borghese was one of the most beautiful women in Rome and led a free and independent life. The statue was commissioned by her husband, who wished to immortalise the beauty of his wife in the guise of Venus, holding in her hands the apple given to her by Paris. For his composition, Canova drew his inspiration from the Venus by the Antique sculptor Praxiteles. Reclining on a couch, the young woman is covered only by a sheet over her legs. The sensuality of the pose, underlined by the finely-chiselled folds of the draped fabric and the noble posture of her head, give Pauline a timeless and majestic beauty. To highlight the shine of the marble even more, Canova coated it with a thin layer of slightly pink wax.