Pietro Canonica (1 March 1869 – 8 June 1959) was an Italian

sculptor Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

painter Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with ...

opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

composer, professor of arts and senator for life.

Biography

He was born in Moncalieri, a town in the Province of Turin, northern Italy. His long and prestigious artistic career started at an early age when he became an assistant to at age ten. One year later, he was admitted to the Accademia Albertina di Belle Arti of Turin, where he was instructed by Enrico Gamba and Odoardo Tabacchi in making sculpture. He initially adhered to the traditions of Naturalism, with Romantic and

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

influences, turned but later to Realism, without making concessions to the more

avant-garde In the arts and literature, the term ''avant-garde'' ( meaning or ) identifies an experimental genre or work of art, and the artist who created it, which usually is aesthetically innovative, whilst initially being ideologically unacceptable ...

artistic tendencies of the 20th century. After World War II, Canonica devoted himself to more religious artworks. He gained big success in the official environment of Turin for his civic and religious monuments. Following the formative period in Turin, he moved in 1922 to Rome, and participated in important national and international exhibitions in Milan, Rome, Venice, Paris, London, Berlin, Dresden, Monaco, Brussels and Saint Petersburg, and received official recognition. Commissioned by Italian and foreign aristocracy in European courts, Canonica created portraits and commemorative works. The master of equestrian sculpture also produced medallic art. He was professor of sculpture at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Venezia (1910) and later at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Roma. He was in the first cadre of members named to the Royal Academy of Italy in 1929, and a member of the Accademia Nazionale di San Luca (1930). In 1937, he managed to obtain the concession to renovate Villa Borghese, a 16th-century building owned by the City of Rome and used as administrative offices until it was abandoned in 1919 following a fire. In exchange of the promise to donate his artworks to the city, he was allowed to use the historical building as home and studio, which he repaired and decorated at his own expense. The unusual architectural construction within the Villa Borghese gardens, called also "La Fortezzuola", is a museum since 1961 dedicated to his name, exhibiting studies, models, sketches, casts and original works of the artist. His wife donated the valuable furnishings and paintings found in their private section after her death in 1987. Canonica was also an accomplished musician and composed the operas ''La sposa di Corinto'' (1918), ''Miranda'' (1937), ''Enrico di Mirval'', ''Impressioni'', ''Sacra Terra'' and ''Medea'' (1959). In 1950, Italian President Luigi Einaudi nominated him life senator for his outstanding artistic achievements. Canonica died on June 8, 1959, in Rome.

Gallery

Istanbul asv2021-10 img07 Taksim Monument.jpg, Monument of the Republic (Cumhuriyet Anıtı) in İstanbul, Turkey Artgate_Fondazione_Cariplo_-_Canonica_Pietro,_Ritratto_di_Vittorio_Emanuele_III.jpg, Vittorio Emanuele III, 1938 Khedive Ismail- El Raml-Alexandria1.jpg, Isma'il Pasha Statue in Alexandria, Egypt

Selected artwork

* Monument of an Artilleryman (marble and bronze, 1930) and a Cavalry soldier (bronze, 1923), both in Turin * Bust of King

Edward VII Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until Death and state funeral of Edward VII, his death in 1910. The second child ...

of England in

Buckingham Palace Buckingham Palace () is a royal official residence, residence in London, and the administrative headquarters of the monarch of the United Kingdom. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is often at the centre of state occasions and r ...

, London, England (marble, 1903) * Bust of Donna Franca Florio (marble, 1903–1904) * Bust of princess Emily Doria-Pamphili in Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna, Rome (marble, 1904) * Monument to Grand Duke Nicholas Nikolaevich, Saint Petersburg, Russia (1913, destroyed in 1918 during the revolution) * Model for the monument to

Tsar Tsar (; also spelled ''czar'', ''tzar'', or ''csar''; ; ; sr-Cyrl-Latn, цар, car) is a title historically used by Slavic monarchs. The term is derived from the Latin word '' caesar'', which was intended to mean ''emperor'' in the Euro ...

Alexander II of Russia Alexander II ( rus, Алекса́ндр II Никола́евич, Aleksándr II Nikoláyevich, p=ɐlʲɪˈksandr ftɐˈroj nʲɪkɐˈlajɪvʲɪtɕ; 29 April 181813 March 1881) was Emperor of Russia, Congress Poland, King of Poland and Grand Du ...

on horseback in Petrodvorets, Saint Petersburg, Russia (plaster, 1912–1914) * Monument to Atatürk on horseback in front of the Ankara Ethnography Museum, Ankara, Turkey (1927) * Monument to Atatürk in military uniform at Zafer Square, Ankara, Turkey (bronze and marble, 1927) * Monument to Atatürk on horseback at Cumhuriyet (Republic) Square, İzmir, Turkey (bronze and marble, 1927) * Monument of the Republic (Cumhuriyet Anıtı) at Taksim Square, Istanbul, Turkey (bronze and marble, 1928) * Monument to Benedict XV in St. Peter's Basilica, Vatican (bronze and marble, 1928) * Monument to Khedive Ismail, Alexandria, Egypt (1935) * Tomb of Vittorio Emanuele Orlando, Rome (1935) * Monument to

Pius XI Pope Pius XI (; born Ambrogio Damiano Achille Ratti, ; 31 May 1857 – 10 February 1939) was head of the Catholic Church from 6 February 1922 until his death in February 1939. He was also the first sovereign of the Vatican City State u ...

in the

Lateran Palace The Apostolic Palace of the Lateran (; ), informally the Lateran Palace (), is an ancient palace of the Roman Empire and later the main pope, papal residence in Rome. Located on Saint John's Square in Lateran on the Caelian Hill, the palace is ...

, Rome (marble, 1941–1949) * Monument to King Faysal I of Iraq on horseback, Baghdad, Iraq * Monument to

Simón Bolívar Simón José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad Bolívar y Palacios (24July 178317December 1830) was a Venezuelan statesman and military officer who led what are currently the countries of Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Panama, and Bol ...

, Bogotá, Colombia * Doors for the abbeys of

Monte Cassino The Abbey of Monte Cassino (today usually spelled Montecassino) is a Catholic Church, Catholic, Benedictines, Benedictine monastery on a rocky hill about southeast of Rome, in the Valle Latina, Latin Valley. Located on the site of the ancient ...

(1951) and Casamari (1959) near Rome * "Il Tevere" fountain sculpture in the Centre William Rappard, Geneva, Switzerland (bronze, 1926)

Musical works

* ''La sposa di Corinto'', opera in 3 acts, libretto by Carlo Bernardi (after

Goethe Johann Wolfgang (von) Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German polymath who is widely regarded as the most influential writer in the German language. His work has had a wide-ranging influence on Western literature, literary, Polit ...

), Rome,

Teatro Argentina The Teatro Argentina (directly translating to "Theatre Argentina") is an opera house and theatre located in Largo di Torre Argentina, a square in Rome, Italy. One of the oldest theatres in Rome, it was constructed in 1731 and inaugurated on 31 ...

, 25 May 1918 * ''Miranda'', opera in 3 acts, libretto by Carlo Bernardi and Pietro Canonica (after

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

's ''

The Tempest ''The Tempest'' is a Shakespeare's plays, play by William Shakespeare, probably written in 1610–1611, and thought to be one of the last plays that he wrote alone. After the first scene, which takes place on a ship at sea during a tempest, th ...

''), Teatro del Casinò Municipale di Sanremo, 5 March 1937 * ''Enrico di Mirval, ovvero Amore è vita'', opera, libretto by the composer, Sanremo, Teatro del Casinò Municipale, 1939 * ''Medea'', tragedia lirica in 3 acts, libretto by the composer, (after

Euripides Euripides () was a Greek tragedy, tragedian of classical Athens. Along with Aeschylus and Sophocles, he is one of the three ancient Greek tragedians for whom any plays have survived in full. Some ancient scholars attributed ninety-five plays to ...

), Rome, Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, 12 May 1953 * ''Sacra Terra'', dramma lirico in 1 prologue and 3 acts, libretto by the composer (after

Virgil Publius Vergilius Maro (; 15 October 70 BC21 September 19 BC), usually called Virgil or Vergil ( ) in English, was an ancient Rome, ancient Roman poet of the Augustan literature (ancient Rome), Augustan period. He composed three of the most fa ...

's ''

Aeneid The ''Aeneid'' ( ; or ) is a Latin Epic poetry, epic poem that tells the legendary story of Aeneas, a Troy, Trojan who fled the Trojan War#Sack of Troy, fall of Troy and travelled to Italy, where he became the ancestor of the Ancient Rome ...

''), composed in 1957 * ''Impressioni'', symphonic poem

Bibliography

* Elena Lissoni
Pietro Canonica
online catalogu
Artgate
by

Fondazione Cariplo Fondazione Cariplo is a charitable foundation in Milan, Italy. It was created in December 1991 when the Amato law, Law no. 218 of 30 July 1990, came into force. Under this law, saving banks were required to separate into a not-for-profit foun ...

, 2010, CC BY-SA.

References

External links

* Francesco Negri Arnoldi
"Canonica, Pietro"
''Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani'', Volume 18 (1975) (in Italian, accessed 5 October 2013) *
Museo Pietro Canonica website

City of Rome

Virtual Tourist

Who is who?

Art Net
{{DEFAULTSORT:Canonica, Pietro 1869 births 1959 deaths People from Moncalieri 19th-century Italian painters Italian male painters 20th-century Italian painters Realist artists Italian classical composers Italian opera composers Italian male opera composers Italian life senators Members of the Royal Academy of Italy Accademia Albertina alumni 20th-century Italian sculptors 20th-century Italian male artists Italian male sculptors 19th-century Italian male artists