Born not far from an aqueous city, this artist is perhaps best known for his portrait of a famous man's notorious sister, depicted in the guise of a goddess. At one point in his career, he designed a monument to a great and long-dead artist, destined for a church containing a celebrated work by that artist, but the monument became his own. Who was he, who was the other artist, who was the sister, and can you find me an illustration of that provocative portrait?

queproblema

Humor me aqueous and let me call a true-to-life full-body (very full) sculpture a portrait. Antonio Canova was born in Possagno, Italy, near watery Venice. Known, if not best known, for his partially draped nude sculpture of the nymphomaniac and eccentric Pauline Bonaparte, he depicted her as Venus Victrix. Canova designed a mausoleum for Titian to be installed in Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari, the Venetian basilica where Titian's magnificent "Assumption" hangs. This project was never executed, but Canova's pupils used the design to create a monument for him. Most of that can be found here and all over the net: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonio_Canova The salacious part is here: http://europeanhistory.about.com/library/readyref/blpersonpaulineborghese.htm Oct 12 07, 11:08 PM

lanfranco

Any artistic depiction of a known person, painted or sculpted, full-length or just bust-length, is a portrait, which is simply a "portrayal." I'd say Canova's portrait of Pauline is, in many ways, more accurate than some. So you get the silver chisel! Oct 13 07, 7:19 AM

queproblema

Since I'm a nut about words, I spent a little time in half a dozen dictionaries last night justifying this as a portrait. Paoletta's head is turned away, while all primary definitions except Concise Oxford's insist a portrait concentrates on the face and expression. Yay for Oxford, huh? I'm not being stupidly serious here, just having fun. (FUN Trivia!) Here's a discussion by photographers; don't miss the description of Annie Leibovitz's portraits, or the John Singer Sargent quote. http://www.dpchallenge.com/forum.php?action=read&FORUM_THREAD_ID=272025 This also flitted through my head last night; my computer's not cooperating with Scorch to find the melody for those too young to remember it. http://www.theguitarguy.com/portrait.htm Anyway, this is between individuals who know birds are descended from dinosaurs and cherubs are descended from birds. :-) McGruff will be setting limits to my frivolity.... Oct 13 07, 12:15 PM

lanfranco

Well, we don't go by the dictionary definition. That would be rather limiting in the profession, especially when it comes to profile and other non-full-face portraits, of which there are thousands. Here's a full-length painting that always gives me the giggles and that involves a concept somewhat similar to Canova's: an existing individual in antique guise. It is always described as a portrait: http://www.humanitiesweb.org/human.php?s=g&p=c&a=p&ID=265 Oct 13 07, 12:49 PM

queproblema

Yes, Annie L.'s portraits are not delimited to front-on facial representations. I concluded you used "portrait" instead of "sculpture" so we'd go rooting through paintings, which I did for a while. For the purist, here is the MARBLE PORTRAIT of Pauline Bonaparte. http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2007/08/15/venus_his.html?category=history&guid=20070815144500 Since it's horizontal, could we call it a landscape portrait? He-he. Over and out. Oct 13 07, 1:48 PM