Art Institute of Chicago

Deposition

Bernardino Nocchi (Italian, 1741–1812)

Date

1800

Medium

Oil on canvas

Culture

Italy

Department

Painting and Sculpture of Europe

Institution

Art Institute of Chicago

As official painter of the Apostolic Apartments, Bernardino Nocchi produced large fresco decorations for the papal residences at the Vatican. However, this painting is a reflection of his association with the great Neoclassical sculptor Antonio Canova —and of Canova’s exacting working process, which involved two-dimensional preparatory works as well as studies in terracotta and plaster. The plaster model was a key element in Canova’s design process, serving as the basis for adjustments before the final execution in marble. In a few instances, as here, Canova also commissioned paintings based on the plaster model, both to show to the patron and to anticipate the effects of light on the three-dimensional work. The plaster model for this tomb design survives in the Gipsoteca Canoviana, Possagno, Italy, but a large marble was never made. A reduced replica made for a Venetian patron by Antonio d’Este, the head of Canova’s workshop, is also in the collection of the Art Institute.

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