Sculptures by Antonio Canova and his pupils in exhibition in Carrara.

At the bottom of the sumptuous staircase in Palazzo Cucchiari in Carrara Italy, with its beautiful 19th century frescoes, the exhibition of Canova's and his pupils' masterpieces are shown in full view and glory. The Hermitage in St Petersburg, Florence, Rome and Carrara are connected by an invisible thread created by Canova and his pupils. The works that stand out and set themselves up distinctively are the neoclassical ones, among which Canova's bust of Napoleon is considered the most outstanding. Napoleon's portrait from the Hermitage is the revising of his first sculpture created in Paris in front of Napoleon in person, whom Canova was not very fond of, considering that in his time on occupying Venice, Napoleon had initially revoqued the life annuity granted to Canova. Bertel Thorvaldsen, a rival of Canova's, is outstanding with of his sculpure of Cupid playing the lyre. Also prominent are the Three Graces by Carlo Finelli, who ventures in his own interpretation of a 'graceful genre'. On the way looking at all the artworks shown at the Palazzo Cucchiari, quite remarkable are the works of the sculptors Lorenzo Bartolini, Luigi Pampaloni and Pietro Tenerani.