The most contemporary reproduction
From October 10, 2019, to June 21, 2020, the Museum of Rome presents Canova. Eternal Beauty, a special exhibition with over 170 works and prestigious loans from important Italian and foreign museums and collections.
Magister Art presents the most contemporary life-size reproduction of Antonio Canova's reclining sculpture group of Amor and Psyche. Starting from a 3D scan of the preparatory plaster of the sculpture currently exhibited at the Louvre in Paris, a robot tirelessly sculpted a 10-ton block of Carrara white marble for 270 hours.
The chisel is now in the hands of the computer.
The life-size reproduction of the reclining Amor and Psyche is intended to be a unique tribute to the greatest interpreter of Neoclassicism, the first ambassador of Italian beauty to the world: Antonio Canova.
Canova's creative process began with a drawing, followed by an initial clay sketch in which he captured the idea, then he sculpted the work in real-life dimensions using clay. A cast was made of the final work, into which liquid plaster was poured to create the model of the sculpture. This plaster model had small metal cylinders, called repére, inserted into it, which served as essential reference points. Using squares, compasses, or pantographs, these reference points were transferred to the block of marble for the final creation of the work.
This process encapsulates the theme of replicability of the work starting from a plaster model.
Inspired by this same principle of replicability, the reproduction created by Magister Art should be seen as a form of respect for the artist's thought and expresses the contemporary aspiration to once again valorize Canova's creative genius.
Placed in the center of the courtyard of Palazzo Braschi, the installation of the reclining sculpture of Amor and Psyche caught the eye of anyone passing through Piazza Navona and Piazza San Pantaleo during the months of the exhibition. The installation was accompanied by video contributions for further insight.
The first room hosts the intimate and faithful story that inspired Canova, the Tale of Apuleius, in a privileged cinematic narration, with the text by classical philologist Giuliano Pisani, the voice of Adriano Giannini, and the original music by cellist Giovanni Sollima. In the second room, you can discover the phases of analysis and study that led to the creation of the sculpture, from the scanning of the plaster to the robot's work on the marble block.
This unique project is part of a broader journey undertaken by Magister Art since 2017, with the aim of creating certified exhibition projects for their intrinsic cultural qualities and the excellence of their completeness, restoring exciting places where creative experimentation and technology serve the dissemination and exaltation of Art."
Read the article