Giovacchino (Rome 1756-1822) e Pietro Belli (1780-1828) – Monument to Maria Christina of Austria, from Canova

Giovacchino (Rome 1756-1822) and Pietro Belli (1780-1828)

Monument to Maria Cristina of Austria, from Canova

1815 ca.

Carrara statuary marble, black marble, hammered bronze, chiseled and gilded with double gilding, 21.7 x 18.5 x 7 cm

Provenance: Italy, private collection

This very refined scale reduction of the Monument to Maria Cristina of Austria by Canova, judged by Stendhal to be the most beautiful monument ever built, testifies to the cult of contemporaries for the great sculptor and the collecting taste for precious replicas of his inventions in different techniques, from gilded bronze as in this case, to the engraved gems.