The Gipsoteca and Museum Antonio Canova, one of the first great Italian art collections, collects all the original models created by Canova himself in his atelier in Rome in order to have them reproduced in marble in his workshop. This extraordinary collection of models, arranged in the evocative scenery of the basilica built by the Venetian architect Francesco Lazzari (1836) and in the pavilion brilliantly designed by Carlo Scarpa (1957), allows not only admiring a vast array of absolute masterpieces, but also understanding the complex and rich path of Canova’s invention and acquaintances, as well as the Italian and European customers who appreciated, sought and bought his many artworks.
The Gipsoteca is managed by Fondazione Canova onlus, the non-proft cultural organisation that promotes Canova’s great heritage in Possagno. It was conceived by the mid-19 century by Giovanni Battista Sartori, Antonio Canova’s brother.
In addition to the Gipsoteca, Fondazione Canova also safeguards and promotes Canova’s native house, where he was born in 1757 and which is today headquarter of the Pinacoteca: “the most appropriate location and the one which is richest in symbolic values”.