''Theseus and the Minotaur'' is a 1781–1782 white marble sculpture by

Antonio Canova Antonio Canova (; 1 November 1757 – 13 October 1822) was an Italians, Italian Neoclassical sculpture, Neoclassical sculptor, famous for his marble sculptures. Often regarded as the greatest of the Neoclassical artists,. his sculpture was ins ...

, now in the

Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (abbreviated V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.8 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and named after Queen ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, which bought it in 1962. The work was commissioned by Girolamo Zulian, Venetian ambassador to Rome and one of Canova's patrons, who also gave him the marble block for it, one of his earliest works after settling in Rome. Zulian left the choice of subject up to Canova, to whom Canova's friend

Gavin Hamilton Gavin Hamilton may refer to: * Gavin Hamilton (archbishop of St Andrews) (died 1571), archbishop of St Andrews * Gavin Hamilton (bishop of Galloway) (1561–1612), bishop of Galloway * Gavin Hamilton (artist) (1723–1798), Scottish artist * Ga ...

suggested

Theseus Theseus (, ; ) was a divine hero in Greek mythology, famous for slaying the Minotaur. The myths surrounding Theseus, his journeys, exploits, and friends, have provided material for storytelling throughout the ages. Theseus is sometimes desc ...

just after killing the

Minotaur In Greek mythology, the Minotaur (, ''Mīnṓtauros''), also known as Asterion, is a mythical creature portrayed during classical antiquity with the head and tail of a bull and the body of a man or, as described by Roman poet Ovid, a being "par ...

from Ovid's ''

Metamorphoses The ''Metamorphoses'' (, , ) is a Latin Narrative poetry, narrative poem from 8 Common Era, CE by the Ancient Rome, Roman poet Ovid. It is considered his ''Masterpiece, magnum opus''. The poem chronicles the history of the world from its Cre ...

''. The subject is also intended as an

Enlightenment Enlightenment or enlighten may refer to: Age of Enlightenment * Age of Enlightenment, period in Western intellectual history from the late 17th to late 18th century, centered in France but also encompassing (alphabetically by country or culture): ...

allegory of reason triumphing over irrationality. Its physical and spiritual tranquility and Theseus' anatomy both directly refer to the "noble simplicity and quiet grandeur" which contemporary art critic

Johann Joachim Winckelmann Johann Joachim Winckelmann ( ; ; 9 December 17178 June 1768) was a German art historian and archaeologist. He was a pioneering Hellenism (neoclassicism), Hellenist who first articulated the differences between Ancient Greek art, Greek, Helleni ...

held to be the unique characteristic of

Hellenistic art Hellenistic art is the art of the Hellenistic period generally taken to begin with the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and end with the Roman Greece, conquest of the Greek world by the Romans, a process well underway by 146 BC, when the G ...

. So great is its debt to that era of art that its first viewers initially thought it to be a copy of a Greek original and were shocked to learn it was a contemporary work. The work was widely disseminated via an engraving by

Raffaello Sanzio Morghen Raffaello Morghen (19 June 1758 – 8 April 1833) was an Italian engraver. Life He was born in Naples, apparently to a German family of engravers. He received his earliest instructions from his father, himself an engraver; but, to obtain more ...

and helped establish Canova's reputation. By the time it was completed Zulian had left Rome for Constantinople and he released the work to Canova, who sold it to the Austrian collector

Count Moritz von Fries Moritz Christian Johann Reichsgraf von Fries (6 May 1777 – 26 December 1826) was an Austrian nobleman, banker and patron of the arts. Early life He was born in Vienna as the youngest son of Count Johann von Fries (1719–1785), one of the ...

, who took it to Vienna. It was next acquired sometime before 1822 by

Charles Vane, 3rd Marquess of Londonderry Charles William Vane, 3rd Marquess of Londonderry, (born Charles William Stewart; 1778–1854), was an Anglo-Irish people, Anglo-Irish nobleman, a British soldier and a politician. He served in the French Revolutionary Wars, in the suppressi ...

, who installed it in his London residence of

Londonderry House Londonderry House was an aristocratic townhouse situated on Park Lane in the Mayfair district of London, England. The mansion served as the London residence of the Marquesses of Londonderry. It remained their London home until 1962. In that ye ...

, most likely sometime in the 1820s. It remained there until that house's contents were sold just before its demolition in the 1960s, at which time it was acquired by its present owner for £3000, a third of which was provided by the

National Art-Collections Fund Art Fund (formerly the National Art Collections Fund) is an independent membership-based British charity, which raises funds to aid the acquisition of artworks for the nation. It gives grants and acts as a channel for many gifts and bequests, as ...

References

{{Antonio Canova Sculptures by Antonio Canova Marble sculptures in the United Kingdom Sculptures in the Victoria and Albert Museum 1782 sculptures Cultural depictions of Theseus Sculptures based on Metamorphoses