* Canova [after] Two lions {by 1865} Loc? [SC]

Canova, Antonio (1757-1822; Italian) [after]
Two lions
Bronze
Acquired by 1865
Present location unknown

The famous lions from Canova’s tomb of Pope Clement XIII (St Peter’s Basilica, 1783-92), one vigilant and the other asleep, have often been reproduced at reduced scale. A full-scale bronze pair, cast from the originals, was installed outside the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. in 1860.

[comparative photo: a bronze pair on sale recently]

Refs.

NGV 1865, p.47 (under Bronzes; artist not named); AR 1870-71, p.58 (Schedule XL, indicating the origin as the “Kensington Museum”)

For the examples reproduced here, see https://www.mutualart.com/Artwork/Recumbent-lions/509281EDF0F07019 (accessed 10 Sept.2020; bronze versions 98cm high, dated to 1810; further details available to subscribers)