seeming probability, to bury his talents in a humble and laborious occupation, and confined to the obscure precincts of his native yillage. But the favourable crisis, which was to call him from seclusion, and to place within his reach instruction and acquisitions to which he never could otherwise have aspired, was now near at hand.

the mountains.

The country round Possagno presents considerable beauty of natural scenery, and lying near the Alps, enjoys during the heats of summer refreshing breezes from These advantages render this a desirable situation whence to retire from the confinement and bustle of a city. At the period of which we now speak, there were accordingly in this vicinity several villas of the Venetian nobility, in which their opulent proprietors were then accustomed to reside during some months of each season. In the repairs, or minor embellishments of these retreats, Pasino Canova, recommended by his superior ingenuity, which precluded the necessity of sending artists from the capital, was frequently employed. On these occasions he was now generally accompanied by his youthful as

sistant.

Among the residences in which they were thus most commonly engaged, and at no great distance from the village of Possagno, is the villa d'Asolo, contiguous to the little town of the same name, and belonging to the patrician family of Falier, or Falieri, of Venice. Signor Giovanni Falier, the proprietor, and head of the family, entertained a particular regard for the grandfather of our artist, the effect of long acquaintance, and of the old man's good qualities. No

season passed without several visits from Pasino; and he was often invited to spend a few days at the villa, even when the assistance of his skill was not required.

By this means young Canova was first introduced to the senator Falier, who afterwards became his most zealous patron; by the whole family, likewise, he was soon recognised as a universal favourite. Between him and Giuseppe Falier, the younger son, in particular, who were both at the happy age yet unconscious of the artificial distinctions of rank, a friendship then commenced, which terminated only with the life of the former. Few indeed could at this time know the amiable and unassuming boy, without feeling an affection for him. His light and graceful figure; his finely formed and expressive countenance, beaming at once with sensibility and fire, interested at first sight; while the unaffected simplicity of his address-the modest diffidence, but not awkward timidity of his manner-his goodness of heart, and ingenuous disposition, could not fail to improve these favourable impressions.

The friendly regard he had long entertained for old Pasino, joined to the interest which the boy himself had excited, while a convenient opportunity presented of placing him in the way of receiving better instruction, induced the signor Falier to receive Canova at this period under his immediate protection. He thought there appeared in the youthful artist talents that promised much. A little encouragement and more extensive tuition would elicit these, or, at least, render him better qualified to succeed in his present occupation.

Such were the circumstances which introduced Canova to his

earliest patron. It has indeed been asserted by an Italian writer, and from him copied by various others, that a mere accident was the occasion of this interesting connection. At a festival, it is said, which was celebrated in the villa Falier, and attended by a numerous assembly of Venetian nobility, the domestics had neglected to provide an ornament for the dessert, without discovering the omission, till the moment it was required to be supplied. Fearing lest they should on this account incur their master's displeasure, and being in the greatest terror, they applied to Pasino, who then happened to be engaged at work in the house, accompanied by his grandson. The old man's invention could suggest no remedy; -his youthful associate, seeing the necessity of the case, desired some butter to be provided; and from this material presently carved a lion, with such skill and effect, that, on being presented at table, it excited the attention and received the applause of all present. So singular an ornament naturally produced inquiry. The servants were questioned;-the whole was disclosed, and Tonin Canova declared to be the contriver. Tonin was immediately called for; and blushing,-half reluctant, apprehensive of having done something amiss, was ushered into the brilliant assembly-when, to his great relief, instead of rebuke, he received praises and caresses from the whole company. From this circumstance, it is stated, his talents for sculpture were first discovered by the senator Falier, who from thenceforth resolved to encourage them by patronizing their possessor.*

"Memorie Trivigiane sulle opere di disegno, del Padré Federici," 2 tom. VOL. LXVII.

The anecdote may very possibly be true; nay, there are many reasons for crediting its veracity: but certainly the circumstance which it records was not, either the occasion of Canova's first introduction to the family of Falier, or the cause of the subsequent patronage which he experienced. The connection was not in truth the result of a fortuitous occurrence,nor founded on a momentary feeling, but proceeded from previous and long-established intercourse.

Some months previous to Antonio's completion of his twelfth year, Giuseppe Bernardi, surnamed Toretto, a Venetian sculptor, had settled at the villa di Pagnano, a short distance from Asolo. Bernardi had studied sculpture under his uncle Giuseppe Toretto, distinguished by the appellation of the Elder, by whom he had been adopted, and whose name, in consequence, he had assumed. This artist was considered as one of the most skilful then in Venice, and had fixed his temporary residence at Pagnano, in order to finish on the spot various works of embellishment, in the prosecution of which he was then engaged. Bernardi, or, as he is more generally called, Toretto, had formerly executed several statues, as ornaments for the villa d'Asolo, in the grounds of which these works, along with others of his different cotemporaries, are still to be seen. On this ac

quarto. A work of no great merit, but which nevertheless has, on this occasion, been very generally followed. In his admirable" Catalogo Ragionato" of Books on the Works of Art, Cicognara designates this "due tome in uno," with no other remark. Falier expressly says, "Non si allega la storiella del Leoncino di burro, asserita dal P. Federici nelle sue Memorie Trivigiane,' perche, se anche vera, essa non fu certo il motivo dell interesse presone da mio Padre." N*

count, Falier was not only well acquainted with his merits as a sculptor, but was in turn regarded by the artist as a friend and patron. The present, therefore, appeared a most favourable opportunity for placing his interesting protegé in a situation to acquire the best instruction in the profession, while his tender age would still enjoy the superintending care of relatives and friends. Induced by these considerations, the benevolent senator not only settled Canova under the tuition of Toretto, but also recommended him to this new master with the same anxiety as if he had been his own son. Nor was Toretto inattentive to his charge, but seems to have paid every attention to a pupil, whom he quickly discovered to possess no ordinary talents, and whose gentle manners, united to a docile disposition, soon gained his affection and esteem. During nearly two succeeding years that were passed at Pagnano, Canova, ever assiduous in the pursuit of improvement, exhibited the same unceasing industry which distinguished his future life. Many drawings and models, the fruits of this application, are still preserved in the Falier family, as also in the collections of various individuals in

Venice and elsewhere. Among those possessed by the former are two drawings in chalk, representing one a Venus, and the other a Bacchus, both executed only a few days after their author had been placed with Toretto, and valued, therefore, as shewing the degree of perfection which, under his. grandfather, he had been able to attain. These, considered as the performances of a boy not exceed ing twelve years of age, from the boldness of style, and correctness of outline, are said to discover very

considerable progress in this department. Indeed, there is reason to believe, that the only valuable acquisition which resulted from old Pasino's instructions, consisted in a ready use of the pencil, as, during their continuance, the really useful studies of his grandson had been confined chiefly to drawing. It does not appear whether those in question were taken from casts, or from other drawings of the figures which they represent; but they are stated to have been executed in surprisingly short intervals of study, snatched from more laborious and less grateful employment.

The works, however, which during this period afforded the greatest pleasure to the friends of young Antonio, and which excited the utmost surprise in his master, were the models, in clay, of two Angels, executed during a short absence of Toretto, and without assistance from any similar figures. These, therefore, are the first really original labours of Canova's hand. Being finished in secrecy and in haste, they were then placed in a conspicuous situation in the workshop, against the expected return of his master. The hopes and fears with which his instructor's looks were watched may easily be imagined. When at length the anxiously longed-for crisis arrived; and Toretto's eye rested on these new creations of his trembling pupil; he is said to have remained in astonishment, exclaiming, "Ecco un lavor veramente maraviglioso." He could scarcely be persuaded that a work so perfect had been executed by the boy, who, all former apprehensions now dissipated, stood smiling before him, and enjoying his surprise.*

From these models, Pasino executed his best work, the two Angels in

Soon after this occurrence, that is, in the second year of his present engagement, and the fourteenth of his age, Canova appears to have made his first essay in the representation of the human form in marble. It would seem, however, that this circumstance marks only a higher and more difficult species of amusement, rather than an advanced gradation in regular study. His first efforts in this department were, in fact, the employment merely of such hours as were not engaged in the more mechanical labours of his profession. These performances were reserved as presents for his friends, and were neither countenanced by the orders, nor assisted by the directions of his master; while from the diminutive size of those that remain, such labours could but little aid his progress in sculpture.*

The years passed at Pagnano were often recalled by Canova, even in the height of reputation, as forming, in many respects, one of the happiest periods of his life. The kindly feelings of his generous nature were soothed and cherished by uninterrupted intercourse with those he loved. He was surrounded by his friends, almost in the bosom of his own family, and engaged in studies most congenial to his mind; while, at the same time, he saw his progress prove a constant source of pleasure to those who then composed all he knew of the world, and whom alone he could desire to please. During the winter, when the family of his patron returned from their villa at Asolo to Venice, he still enjoyed the com

pietra dura, which ornament the high altar at Monfumo.

*Two of these statues, about a foot high, and in alabaster of Florence, are still in the villa Falier.

pany of his friend, young Falier, who, for the purposes of education, remained with a clergyman resident in the vicinity. With a companion whom he so much loved, and in visiting his grandmother and the good old Pasino, were spent every holiday, and every interval not devoted to study.

Even at this early age, his mind appears to have been endowed, or rather oppressed by feelings, which seemed to require a peculiar language for their expression-feelings which he could neither comprehend nor subdue; which were constantly urging him forward to some imaginary goal of superiority,

to some undefined exertion, the origin or object of which he could not even to himself either develope or explain. "He often felt," to borrow his own simple but expressive words, 66 as if he could have started on foot with a velocity to outstrip the wind, but without knowing whither to direct his steps; and when activity could no longer be supported, he would have desired to lie down and die." He would often gaze on the evening clouds, and on the mountains, from behind which their floating masses seemed to advance, as if he wished to mingle with their gilded forms, -to range unconfined the azure outline of the distant Alps, or to penetrate the dim futurity beyond. At other times he would hurry to his drawings-or models-or last performance, examine the objects again and again, then leave the place in seeming disappointment, and like one apparently in search of something which had not been found.

Under Toretto, the advances of Canova, especially during his fourteenth year, were, in many respects, considerable. Notwithstand

ing the kindness of his master, however, a very great proportion of time must of necessity have been devoted to occupations of slight tendency to promote advancement in the nobler walks of art. His age the views in the first instance proposed of his merely attaining superior skill and dexterity in the subordinate parts, joined to the slender experience antecedently acquired, occasioned his being employed much more frequently in the capacity of a mechanical assistant, than in the more elevated pursuits requisite to the student of a liberal art. The studies more immediately tending to form the artist, were thus confined chiefly to hours of necessary relaxation from manual labour. In the mean time, his powers were unfolding themselves more rapidly, accompanied with higher ideas of excellence than his previous knowledge or present situation yielded the means either of exercising or of gratifying. In the consequent state of impatience and anxiety, implied by his words and feelings, application was unceasing, from that "enthusiastic desire to excel," so justly regarded by Reynolds as "the first thing required to excel."* This desire of excellence, however, was indefinite, and therefore obviously independent of any original attachment to a particular mode in its attainment. This enthusiasm was nothing more than the same generous ambition, which fires every superior mind; and so far from indicating the influence of any natural inclination or exclusive capacity for sculpture, that it excited only undecided hopes and wishes beyond the prospect of success in the art. In such cases, when * See “Discourse XIV., on the Character of Gainsborough," &c.

the mind is irresolute whether to continue or to abandon its efforts, former habitudes of thought or of action finally prevail; and the acquired habits and tastes of early education assume the semblance and produce the effects of what is termed genius or natural disposition. After these paroxysms of fruitless despondency, or of causeless exultation, Canova returned to his drawings-to his modelsfound them imperfect-still they afforded the only exercise in which the ebullitions of emotion could be calmed; and both education and circumstances had rendered superiority in art the sole means of attaining that eminence which he courted.

The engagements which hitherto had detained him at Pagnano being now finished, Toretto, after an absence of nearly three years, determined on re-establishing his residence in Venice. Here he died a few months after his return, worn out rather by infirmities than by age. This, in some measure, may be regarded as an unfortunate event for his youthful pupil, who, there is reason to believe, would otherwise have found a future settlement in the capital, less a matter of obligation, if not of difficulty. At least, he would have enjoyed the advantage of prosecuting his studies on the same principles as they had been commenced; in which respect a change was by no means desirable, as in the then state of Venetian art, notwithstanding the deficiencies of his master, it could not have been for the better. Toretto had always expressed to his patron great commendation of Antonio's talents and docility; and latterly, had frequently urged the necessity of better instruction than could now