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March 28, 2000
Christopher M. S. Johns Antonio Canova and the Politics of Patronage in Revolutionary and Napoleonic Europe Berkeley: University of California Press, 1997. 288 pp.; 85 b/w ills.; 1 ills. Cloth $55.00 (0520212010)
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The sculptor Canova rose to fame and fortune despite the conflicts that arose during the Napoleonic Era. He succeeded in doing so not only because of his exceptional artistic talents, but also because of his astute diplomacy that enabled him to remain a free agent. Christopher Johns makes clear the complex strategy of “political ambivalence” that allowed the artist to partake of the patronage of Europe’s ruling elite, despite their bitter enmities. This instructive study...