Female Dancer

This marble statue, approximately life-size, was made by Antonio Canova to a commission from the Russian ambassador in Vienna, Count Andrei Razumovsky. Graceful and seemingly weightless, the dancer is turning on her own axis on one leg, elegantly holding her cymbals in her upraised hands. The flimsy fabric of her classical-style gown does more to reveal than to conceal the fine lines of her body. The dancer’s head, evenly formed and with meticulously styled hair, is inclined to one side in an attitude of pure grace. The statue, made of Carrara marble, comes with a circular marble pedestal ornamented with garlands of flowers, on which the figure can be revolved. This gave the original owner the opportunity to observe the beauty and perfection of the statue as light fell upon it from shifting angles.