The Temple of Canova, Possagno, Italy

December 1969 Issue

The Temple of Canova, Possagno, Italy

At age nine, he sculpted two shrines out of Carrara marble in his hometown of Possagno, Italy, that still can be seen today. At 12, his impromptu sculpture of a lion (made from the butter at a nobleman’s dinner party) won him a lifelong patron. And at 63, two years before his death, Antonio Canova (1757-1822) laid the fist stone of the neoclassical temple that was to bear his name and his tomb: the Temple of Canova, the subject of October’s photo. The temple, located in Possagno, also holds works by Canova and other Italian artists.

Three readers sent in correct answers, and MARTHA JO MOREHOUSE of Glendale, California, won the drawing. We thank Carol and Bert Vorchheimer of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, for sending in the photo.