Napoleon as Mars the Peacemaker
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (September 2015) |
| Napoleon as Mars the Peacemaker | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Artist | Antonio Canova |
| Year | 1802-1806 |
| Medium | white marble gilded bronze |
| Dimensions | 345 cm (136 in) |
| Location | Apsley House, London |
Napoleon as Mars the Peacemaker is a colossal heroic nude statue by the Italian artist Antonio Canova, of Napoleon I of France in the guise of the Roman god Mars. He holds a gilded Nike or Victory standing on an orb in his right hand and a staff in his left. It was produced between 1802 and 1806 and stands 3.45 metres to the raised left hand. Once on display in the Louvre in Paris, it was purchased from Louis XVIII in 1816 by the British government, which granted it to the Duke of Wellington. It is now on display in Robert Adam's stairwell at the Duke's London residence, Apsley House.
History
At Napoleon's personal and insistent demand, Canova went to Paris in 1802 to model a bust of him. In 1803, after his return to Rome, he began work on the full-length sculpture; it was completed in 1806.[1]: 93 Its idealised nude physique draws on the iconography of Augustus, and it was always intended for an interior entrance-hall setting rather than as a freestanding piazza sculpture, though some accounts give the centre of the courtyard of the Palazzo del Senato as the original intended site for the sculpture, following plans drawn up by the architect Luigi Canonica. France's ambassador in Rome François Cacault and the director of French museums Vivant Denon both saw the sculpture while it was a work in progress: Cacault wrote in 1803 that it "must become the most perfect work of this century", whilst Denon wrote back to Napoleon in 1806 that it belonged indoors in the Musée Napoléon "among the emperors and in the niche where the Laocoon is, in such a manner that it would be the first object that one sees on entering". In late 1810 the sculpture was transported to France, reaching Paris on 1 January 1811.[1]: 100 When Napoleon saw it there in April 1811 he refused to accept it, calling it "too athletic" and banning the public from seeing it.
By 1814 the sculpture was in the Salle des Hommes Illustrés, hidden behind a canvas screen, where it was probably first seen by Wellington. In the era after the battle of Waterloo Canova, who was still regarded as the best living artist, with his works in great demand from English patrons in particular, supported the return of looted sculptures from the Musée Napoléon to their original collections. The Musée Napoléon reverted to being the Louvre and its looted sculptures such as the Apollo Belvedere were returned to their original collections. The removal of the Napoleon was also mooted, and Canova offered to re-purchase it. It was sold to the British government in 1816 for 66,000 francs (then under £3,000), which the Louvre spent on re-installing its Salle des Antiques. Works by Canova were already being collected by the Duke, and the Prince Regent presented it to him later that year. It was moved to the stairwell in Apsley House in 1817, where the floor under the statue was specially strengthened in order to accommodate the additional weight. It is still on display there.[2]
Underlying Artistic Strategies
Personal writings suggest that Canova found Bonaparte to be particularly detestable for a number of reasons. During the French Revolution, Bonaparte invaded Italy. In the course of this conquest, Bonaparte was regularly contemptuous of the Republic of Venice, Canova’s native region. As an artist Canova was also especially indignant to the fact that the conquest was accompanied by an unchecked looting of Italian masterpieces. Furthermore, Napoleon routinely decried Pope Pius VII; something that greatly affronted Canova, a devout Catholic and firm supporter of the Pope. Therefore, Canova was extremely averse to the idea of accepting Bonaparte’s commission, let alone glorifying Napoleon in his work. Canova resorted to a slew of different excuses in an attempt to circumvent Napoleon’s summons to Paris. However, he was eventually pressured to accept Napoleon’s invitation in September, 1802 [3]: 357 .
Yet, while Canova could not refuse the task of rendering Napoleon, he could covertly refuse the task of rendering Napoleon in a propagandistic manner. During his creation of Mars the Peacemaker, Canova clevely employed the use of artistic camouflage to undermine its political effectiveness [3]: 362 . This strategy also served to ensure his work would survive any possible iconoclasm. Napoleon was a figure that stirred violent political polarization, so it was clear that any depiction of his person could someday be threatened by destruction. Canova maneuvered these strategies without ever compromising the artistic value of the work, a value that remained his foremost priority.
First, in spite of Napoleon's disturbance, Canova insisted that the piece depict Napoleon in the nude. This artistic choice enabled Canova to idealize the physique of the body in alignment with the classical tradition. The body’s portrayal as a model athlete acted as a device that diverted the viewer’s attention from the actual face of the piece. That in turn, worked to prevent Napoleon from bearing the political fruit of the sculpture [1]: 104 .
Next, Canova’s choice to include the proposed multifaceted mythological components, tied into the same motivations. On the surface, the choice to depict Napoleon with the mythological guise of Mars the Peacemaker was a reference to Napoleon's heroic pacifism. Napoleon had recently signed two treaties ending separate wars with both Austria and England. However, while in part this allegory did commemorate his pacifism, it also offered Canova a means to disguise Napoleon. Public portrait sculptures had proven to be tremendously vulnerable to iconoclasm. These mythological infusions then acted as a shroud, protecting the piece from the before mentioned possibility of destruction. This shroud also guided discourse away from political sentiments towards the piece’s actual artistic qualities. In effect, this practice achieved both of Canova’s objectives [1]: 112 .
Bronze in Milan
In 1811 a bronze copy of the statue was cast in Rome by Francesco Righetti and his son Luigi,[4]: 266 [5]: 200 using the bronze of the cannons of Castel Sant'Angelo in Rome.[6] A previous attempt to cast the statue had failed.[6] Since 1859 the bronze has stood in the main courtyard of Palazzo Brera, home of the Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera and the Pinacoteca di Brera, in Milan, in Lombardy in northern Italy.[7]: 252 It was at first on a temporary base; this was replaced in 1864 with the present base designed by Luigi Bisi, in granite and Carrara marble, with bronze decorations.[6] The gilded bronze winged victory on the globe in the right hand of the figure was stolen on 25 October 1978;[citation needed] it was replaced with a replica in the 1980s.[6]
Plaster casts
In spite of the poor reception of the marble statue, Canova had it cast in plaster. Five copies were made, and were destined for the Accademie di Belle Arti of Italy. The best-preserved of these is now, following restoration in Florence, in the Pinacoteca di Brera.[8] It was initially sent, divided into eight sections, to Padova; however, it was not paid for and stayed in its packing-cases. It was bought by Napoleon's step-son, the viceroy Eugène de Beauharnais, and was on display in the Galleria Reale in Palazzo Brera from 1809 to 1814. After the fall of Napoleon it was relegated to the storerooms of the Accademia, where it remained until 2008. It was restored, and installed in the Pinacoteca di Brera in 2009 for the bicentenary of the gallery.[6][8]
References
- ^ a b c d Christopher M.S. Johns (1998). Antonio Canova and the Politics of Patronage in Revolutionary and Napoleonic Europe. University of California Press. ISBN 9780520212015.
- ^ Bryant, J (2005). ""How Canova and Wellington honoured Napoleon: when the Duke of Wellington was given Canova's monumental statue of Napoleon as Mars in 1816, he placed it in the stairwell of Apsley House in London. This position is often interpreted as a calculated insult to the duke's old foe, but, as Julius Bryant argues, it was in fact a carefully thought-out tribute."". Apollo. Apollo Magazine Ltd. Archived from the original on 17 July 2011. Retrieved 25 March 2018 – via Highbeam Research (subscription required).
- ^ a b David O'Brien (ed.) (2004). "Antonio Canova's Napoleon as Mars the Peacemaker and the Limits of Imperial Portraiture". Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780962174001.
- ^ Maria Giulia Marziliano (ed.) (2003). Architettura e urbanistica in età neoclassica: Giovanni Antonio Antolini (1753– 1841): atti del I. convegno di studi antoliniani (nel secondo centenario del progetto per il Foro Bonaparte, Bologna, 25 settembre 2000 – Faenza, 26 settembre 2000) (in Italian). Faenza: Gruppo editoriale Faenza editrice. ISBN 9788881380435.
- ^ Rossella Leone (ed.) (2002). Il Museo di Roma racconta la città (exhibition catalogue, in Italian). Rome: Gangemi. ISBN 9788849202748.
- ^ a b c d e Francesco Berlucchi (26 October 2013). L'incredibile storia della statua di Napoleone a Brera Archived 4 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine (in Italian). La Stampa, Milan: "Voci di Milano". Accessed September 2015.
- ^ Giovanna Cassese (2013). Accademie: Patrimoni di Belle Arti (in Italian). Rome: Gangemi Editore. ISBN 9788849276718.
- ^ a b Michele Tavola (28 April 2009). Torna il Napoleone del Canova: dopo il restyling è come nuovo (in Italian). La Repubblica, Milan. Accessed September 2015.
External links
- 'How Canova and Wellington honoured Napoleon', by Julius Bryant, Apollo, October 2005
- Sewell, Brian (14 December 2007). "Seven wonders of London". Evening Standard.
- Christopher M. S. Johns, 'Portrait Mythology: Antonio Canova's Portraits of the Bonapartes', Eighteenth-Century Studies, Vol. 28, No. 1 (Autumn, 1994), pp. 115–129 (available on JSTOR)