Museo Gypsotheca Antonio Canova

The Museo Gypsotheca Antonio Canova in Possagno preserves the historical and artistic heritage of Antonio Canova, the greatest sculptor of the Neoclassical period.

Planning your visit

Antonio Canova was the dominant sculptor of the neoclassical age, and Possagno in the Veneto foothills is where he was born and is buried. The Gypsotheca holds his plaster models — the full-size working plasters from which the marbles were carved, studded with small bronze nails used as reference points for the pointing machine that transferred measurements to stone.

Seeing the plasters is arguably better than seeing the finished marbles scattered across the world's museums. They are the sculptor's own hand rather than the assistants' carving, and here they stand in quantity: Psyche Revived by Cupid's Kiss, the Three Graces, Napoleon, Paolina Borghese, funerary monuments and portrait busts, filling a purpose-built basilica-like hall of 1836 and Carlo Scarpa's luminous 1957 extension, which is a masterpiece of museum architecture in its own right.

Canova's birthplace adjoins, with drawings, paintings and personal effects.

The Tempio Canoviano, the domed church he designed, stands above the village and holds his tomb.

Bookable options include tickets with audio guide apps. Current availability is listed below.