The gallery of plaster casts is a bright gallery on the third floor, located between the main stairway and the Borrominian ramp of Palazzo Carpegna. The room displays specimens of one of the most representative collections in the history of the Academy, namely the series of original plaster casts by Canova, Thorvaldsen, Kessels, Wolff, Tenerani and Zagari, among others, mostly bequests or “entrance gifts” of the artists to the prestigious institution.
Room of the plaster (XVIIIth - XIXth century) by senza autoreNational Academy of San Luca
Instead, following the splitting of the art school in compliance with the 1873, post-unification reform of the academies of fine arts prompted by ministers Scialoja and Coppino,
the rich collection of casts from ancient statuary, especially relevant to the academic teaching based on imitation, was destined to continue its educational mission. What remains of it is today housed at the institute in via Ripetta.
Clemente XIII heads (1784/1786) by Antonio CanovaNational Academy of San Luca
In the gallery is preserved the Head of Clement XIII by Antonio Canova. It is the monumental plaster model for the funeral monument of Pope Clement XIII (in 1783 Canova received the commission).
The head of the pope retains on the surface of the face the original final waxing. The treatment of the face—in contrast with the roughness of the surface of the hair and the cope—helps to make even more powerful the meticulous analysis of the sitter. On January 5, 1800 Antonio Canova was appointed academician of merit and he assume the office of prince of the Roman institution in the 1810.
Socrates rescues Alcibiades at the battle of Potidaea (1797) by Antonio CanovaNational Academy of San Luca
Upon his election as academician Canova give to the Academy, according to the statute, a bas-relief representing Socrates rescues Alcibiades at the battle of Potidaea. The relief in plaster—the model of a later marble version—was cast in 1797.
Portrait of Pasin Canova (1798) by Antonio D’EsteNational Academy of San Luca
Pasino Canova was a well-known stonecutter and sculptor and grandfather of Antonio Canova. When
Antonio was only four years old, his father Pietro died and his mother, Angela Zardo, moved to
Crespano. Instead, Antonio continued living in his birthplace, Possagno, with his grandfather Pasino,
who gave him the first sculpture lessons.
Ganimede and the eagle (1817) by Bertel ThorvaldsenNational Academy of San Luca
The Ganymede and the eagle is the entrance gift of artist Bertel Thorvaldsen. He was elected academic of merit in March 1808 and president in 1827-1828, he engaged in the teaching and teaching of sculpture. was donated to the Academy on November 20, 1831. There are two marble versions of this plaster cast preserved in the Thorvaldsen Museum in Copenhagen and the Chrysler Museum of Art in Norfolk Virginia.
The three Graces (1842) by Bertel ThorvaldsenNational Academy of San Luca
The Graces are a subject revived in the production of Thorvaldsen over a lifetime, starting from 1804, he made changes with respect to his own compositions.
In the Academy version there is the affected variant of the arrow of love that one of the Graces wise with the tip of your finger. The group was donated by the Thorvaldsen heirs shortly after his death.
Christ (1821) by Bertel ThorvaldsenNational Academy of San Luca
It was one of two plaster models made by the sculptor (the other is conserved in the Thorvaldsens Museums in Copenhagen) for the marble statue destined for the Vor Frue Kirke in Copenhagen.
The colossal figure of Christ was donated to the Academy in 1844 by the artist’s heirs.
Hercules at the crossroads (1852) by Saro ZagariNational Academy of San Luca
Saro Zagari, a sculptor and architect from Messina, was accepted among the academicians of merit
in 1868.
In 1907 two sketches of the bas-reliefs, Hercules at the Crossroads and Wedding of Hercules and Hebe on Olympus, made by the artist in 1847 for the façade of the theater of Santa Elisabetta (now Vittorio Emanuele) of Messina, were donated to the Academy by Adele Zagari, daughter of sculptor.
Wedding of Hercules and Hebe on Olympus (1852) by Saro ZagariNational Academy of San Luca
The bas-reliefs, which are part of the exterior decoration of the façade of the theatre Vittorio Emanuele, had been judged favourably by the Roman academy in 1865.
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