200th Anniversary of the Death of Antonio Canova

A relief of the sculpted goddess Hebe, a work that Canova produced in four versions between 1796 and 1817, now held in Berlin, St Petersburg, Chatsworth and Forlì. Initially criticised for his stylistic choices — combining marble with bronze details and covering the pristine white marble of the first two versions with a pink patina — these sculptures are today considered masterworks of Neoclassicism. Along the left edge: the commemorative inscription "CANOVA"; to the right: the issuing state "SAN MARINO". On either side of the design: the dates "1822" and "2022"; the "R" of the Rome mint appears lower right, and the designer's initials "AV." lower left.

Antonio Canova was born in 1757 in Possagno, in the Venetian hinterland, and is regarded as the most important sculptor of Classicism in Europe. After early training years in Venice, he settled permanently in Rome in 1781, where he quickly became the most sought-after sculptor of his time. His works combined the formal rigour of antiquity with an unusual sensitivity of surface: Canova developed his own technique of combining marble with bronze details and polishing surfaces with abrasives to near-transparency. He created the figure of Hebe, the Greek goddess of youth and cupbearer to the gods, in four versions between 1796 and 1817 — today these are held in Berlin, Saint Petersburg, Chatsworth and Forlì. This particular work sparked controversy at first: critics objected to the sculptor's stylistic choices, but Canova's interpretation ultimately established itself as a benchmark of European Neoclassicism.

San Marino, the small republic at the heart of the Apennine peninsula, shares a direct geographical and cultural closeness with Canova: his birthplace, the small town of Possagno, lies less than 200 kilometres away, and Canova's influence shaped the art of northern Italy well beyond his death. Canova died in Venice in October 1822; his heart was interred separately in the Church of the Frari, and his body in the temple-rotunda in Possagno that he designed himself. On the 200th anniversary of his death in 2022, San Marino honoured the sculptor with a 2-euro commemorative coin, marking the region's shared cultural heritage.