Antonio Canova (Possagno 1757-1822 Venice)

Drawn in silvery graphite, Canova's preferred technique, this sheet relates to two leaves from the artist's sketchbook in the Museo Civico, Bassano, with studies of the same elegantly coiffed woman (inv. F2.43.1458-1946; G. Marini in Antonio Canova, exhib. cat., Venice, Museo Correr, 1992, nos. 56-57, ill.). Both sheets were apparently made in preparation for his life-size marble portrait of the seated Princess Leopoldine von Esterházy, later von Liechtenstein, commissioned in 1806 and completed in 1808 (Private collection, Eisenstadt). Possibly dating to an early phase of the design, Canova was here using a model to assess the pose of the Princess, who will later be portrayed in a Roman tunic.