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A very fine Neo-classical white marble of Venus Italica, after Antonio Canova, the female goddess looking to her left holding robes to cover her nudity, standing on a circular base inscribed VENERE DI CANOVA, on a circular white marble plinth on an octagonal base
Italian, most probably Rome, date circa 1880
Height 173 cm.
Provenance: Napoleon Graff (1840-96), who purchased the sculpture in Italy for his home Villa Sonora at Traben-Trabach on the Moselle and thence by descent.
Antonio Canova (1757-1822) was commissioned to execute the original version of the Venus Italica at the suggestion of Ludovico I, King of Etruria, as a replacement for the antique statue of the Medici Venus, which in 1802 had been plundered from the Tribuna of the Uffizi by Napoleonic forces during their occupation of Italy. Although Canova was initially reluctant to accept the commission he was soon persuaded by the challenge to surpass one of the great masterpieces from Antiquity. Completed in 1812, the sculpture was placed in the Palazzo Pitti and from the moment it was unveiled, Canova’s Venus was an unparalleled success. He subsequently made a number of versions, examples of which were purchased by the Marquess of Lansdowne, the Marquess of Londonderry and Napoleon’s brother Lucien, Prince of Canino.
The Venus Italica proved to be one of Canova’s greatest achievements, possessing an innate grace and taking on a life of its own. To satisfy the demands of a healthy export market, especially in England, a small number of late nineteenth century sculptors based in Rome, notably Pasquale Romanelli as well as Pietro Barzanti, established galleries to retail high quality copies of antique and Neo-classical sculpture, selling among them a number of accomplished copies of Canova’s original model. Based on its high quality it is possible that the present sculpture came from one of their galleries or if not from another of equal repute.
The statue was purchased in Italy by the German born businessman Napoleon Graff, who came from the winemaking region Traben-Trarbach on the Moselle. Graff was a mining engineer and entrepreneur and thus seeking his fortune he emigrated to Mexico, where he became a managing agent of a gold and silver mine. In due course he amassed a considerable fortune and so built a residence for himself in Mexico as well as another in San Francisco in Post Street. A few years before he finally returned to Germany he decided to have a grand mansion built for himself in Traben-Trarbach, where he was to live with his Mexican wife. Named Villa Sonora, after the area in which he made his fortune, its design was modelled upon his existing Mexican residence. The Villa Sorona was surrounded by a huge parkland that extended 10,000 square metres overlooking the Moselle, while the building itself occupied 1,200 square metres and included for instance six large drawing rooms.
Some of the interior decoration included Mexican style ceiling and mural paintings. Graff also travelled extensively around France and Italy in order to find the finest works of art. He acquired the present marble copy of Canova’s famous sculpture Venus Italica in Italy, which was delivered along with numerous other works of art in specially designed railway wagons. Although the Villa Sonora still stands today, it was subsequently sold to another party, although the statue has, until very recent years, remained within the family. For a time it was in the possession of Napoleon Graff’s children namely his daughter Laurita Graff, who married Cornelius Müller as well as her younger brother Arthur Graff.
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