Antonio Canova🎨, marchese d’Ischia, (born Nov. 1, 1757, Possagno, Republic of Venice-died Oct. 13, 1822, Venice), Italian sculptor, one of the greatest exponents of Neoclassicism. Among his works are the tombs of popes Clement XIV (1783-87) and Clement XIII (1787-92) and statues of Napoleon and of his sister Princess Borghese reclining as Venus Victrix.
He was created a marquis for his part in retrieving works of art from Paris after Napoleon’s defeat.
Canova, the son of a stonemason who died in 1761, was reared by his grandfather, also a stonemason.