sansaregina: art history meme • [2/7] sculptures and other media: antonio canova - paolina borg

sansaregina:art history meme • [2/7] sculptures and other media: antonio canova - paolina borgheseIt is a matter of debate as to whether she actually posed naked for the sculpture, since only the head is a realistic (if slightly idealised) portrait, whilst the nude torso is a neo-classically idealised female form. When asked how she could pose for the sculptor wearing so little, she reputedly replied that there was a stove in the studio that kept her warm, though this may be apochryphal. Canova was first instructed to depict Pauline Bonaparte fully clothed as the chaste goddess Diana, but Pauline insisted on Venus. She had a reputation for promiscuity, and may have enjoyed the controversy of posing naked. The subject of the sculpture may have also been affected by the Borghese family’s mythical ancestry: they traced their descent to Venus, through her son Aeneas, the founder of Rome. -- source link

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