Beatrice

Antonio Canova, probably the most famous sculptor of the neoclassical age, in 1813 modeled two terracotta portraits of Juliette Récamier, a beautiful and wealthy Parisienne, who, however, did not like those works. The artist, deeply resentful, four years after decided to and change one of the rejected portraits into a Dante’s Beatrice. The woman’s gentle features are framed by a veil of great formal impact: Canova’s sculptures like these required to be observed only by candlelight, placed in such a way as to caress with the flickering flame the beautiful face of the effigiate, to further increase its suggestion.