Antonio Canova was an Italian sculptor. He was born in 1757 at Possagno, in Venetian territory and died in 1822. He was first an apprentice to a statuary in Bassano, from whom he went to the Academy of Venice, where he had a brilliant career. In 1779 he was sent by the senate of Venice to Rome with a salary of 300 ducats, and there produced his Theseus and the Slain Minotaur. In 1783 Antonio Canova undertook the execution of the tomb of Pope Clement XIV in the Church of the Apostles, a work in the Bernini manner, and inferior to his second public monument the tomb of Pope Clement XIII (1792) in St Peter's.
From 1783 his fame rapidly increased. He established a school for the benefit of young Venetians, and amongst other works produced his group of Venus and Adonis, the Psyche and Butterfly, a Repentant Magdalene, the well-known Hebe, the colossalHerculeshurling Lichas into the Sea, the Pugilists, and the group of Cupid and Psyche. In 1796 and 1797 Antonio Canova finished the model of the celebrated tomb of the Archduchess Christina of Austria, and in 1797 made the colossal model of a statue of the King of Naples executed in marble in 1803. He afterwards executed in Rome his Perseus with the Head of Medusa, which, when the BelvidereApollo was carried to France, was thought not unworthy of its place and pedestal.
In 1802 he was invited by Bonaparte to Paris to make the model of his colossal statue. Among the later works of the artist are a colossalGeorge Washington, the tombs of the Cardinal of York and of Pius VII; a Venus Rising from the Bath; the colossal group of Theseus Killing the Minotaur; the tomb of Alfieri; the Graces Rising from the Bath; a Dancing Girl; a colossalHector; a Paris, etc. After the second fall of Napoleon, in 1815, Antonio Canova was commissioned by the pope to demand the restoration of the works of art carried from Rome. He went from Paris to London, and returned to Rome in 1816, where he was made Marquis of Ischia, with a pension of 3000 scudi. Research Antonio Canova
Aegeus was a king of Athens. He gave his name to the Aegean sea. His son, Theseus, went to Crete to free Athens from the tribute exacted by Minos. Theseus pledged that if he succeeded he would hoist a white sail upon his return voyage as a signal of his safety. Neglecting to hoist the signal, king Aegeus seeing Theseus' ship returning assumed Theseus was dead and committed suicide by throwing himself into the sea. Research Aegeus
in Greek mythology, the Amazons were a group of female warriors living in Africa or near the Black Sea. The tribe contained no men, the men living in an adjoining nation where the boy children were sent to live with their father. The women allegedly had their right breast burned off (hence the name Amazon, meaning 'deprived of a pap') so that they might use the bow more easily - this legend arose from the Greeks supposing the name was from a, not , mazos, breast. It is probably from a, together, and mazos, breast, the name meaning therefore sisters and the idea of removing a breast false. Their queen, Penthesilea, was killed by Achilles at the siege of Troy. The Amazons attacked Theseus and besieged him at Athens, but were defeated, and Theseus took the Amazon Hippolyte captive; she later gave birth to Hippolytus. Research Amazon
In Greek mythology Ariadne was the daughter of King Minos. She fell in love with Theseus and helped him out of the labyrinth with a thread in exchange for him promising to take her back to Athens and marry her. She was abandoned by Theseus on the Isle of Naxos where she subsequently met and married Bacchus. Research Ariadne
Cercyon was a son of Hephaestus. He was king of Eleusis. He challenged all travellers and wrestled them to death until he challenged and was killed by Theseus, who subsequently acquired the kingdom. Research Cercyon
In Greek mythology, Hippolytus was the son of Theseus. When he rejected the love of his stepmother, Phaedra, she falsely accused him of making advances to her and turned Theseus against him. Killed by Poseidon at Theseus' request, he was in some accounts of the legend restored to life when his innocence was proven. Research Hippolytus
In Greek mythology, the Minotaur was a monster, half man and half bull, the offspring of Pasiphae, wife of King Minos of Crete, and a bull sent to Minos from Poseidon. The Minotaur lived in the Labyrinth built by Daedalus at Knossos, and its victims were seven girls and seven youths, sent in annual tribute by Athens, until Theseus, sent in one contingent with the express purpose of freeing Athens from tribute, killed the Minotaur, and with the aid of Ariadne, the daughter of Minos, found his way back out of the Labyrinth. Research Minotaur
In Greek mythology, Peirithous was a King of the Lapiths and a son of Ixion and Dia. He waged war against the Centaurs and helped Theseus carry off the AmazonAntiope and later Helen. He tried to abductPersephone, but was bound to a stone seat by her husband Hades and remained a prisoner in the underworld. Research Peirithous
In Greek mythology, Phaea was the Crommyonium Sow a wild pig said to have been the offspring of Echidna and Typhon. It ravaged the town of Crommyon on the Isthmus of Corinth until it was destroyed by Theseus. Research Phaea
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