Possagno: Tempio Canoviano and Gipsoteca Historical Timeline

Origins

Canova was born here in 1757, the son of a stonecutter, and trained in Venice before Rome made him the most celebrated sculptor in Europe.

Turning points

From 1819 he financed and designed a new parish church for his village. He did not live to see it: he died in 1822, and the Tempio was consecrated in 1830. He is buried in it.

Influential people

After his death the contents of his Roman studio -- the plaster models, the working casts, the clay sketches -- were brought to Possagno and housed in a purpose-built gallery beside his birthplace.

Cultural evolution

In 1957, for the bicentenary of his birth, Carlo Scarpa was commissioned to extend the Gipsoteca. What he built -- a small wing lit from corner windows and slots cut where walls meet ceiling -- is studied by architects in its own right.

Present-day significance

The museum now holds the largest collection of Canova's plasters anywhere, together with his house and his tomb.