The full-size plaster models that
represented the passage from a preliminary designing phase to the
production of the marble sculpture were of great significance to Italian
sculptor Antonio Canova's creative process. As the subtitle emphasises,
the temporal dimension holds great importance in the neoclassic
sculptor's creative and productive phases: the plaster artefact posits a
before and an after. Before comes the preparatory study; after is the
finished work. Plaster stands in between, it is central. The plaster
forms are not the finished works, however they contain all their power
and potential.


This volume explores this meaningful and
little-known phase in the creative process of Antonio Canova, along with
quality close-up photo sequences that expose the plaster surfaces,
bringing a greater focus and appreciation to the plaster form.

Photographs by: Luigi Spina