This Perseus is one of three statues by Canova which have been in the Cortile di Belvedere in the Vatican since the beginning of the nineteenth century. It is in the Gabinetto del Canova, one of four recesses in the corners of the courtyard. It is in the corner opposite the Laocoon (on which see the reference to the first and second editions of Modern Painters I at Works, 3.117. In another corner is the Apollo Belvedere (see the reference to the polished limbs of the Apollo at MP I:33), which is said to have been its inspiration. Canova's Perseus is to be distinguished from the Perseus to which Ruskin refers in MP I:xxi. That is a reference to the Perseus made by Benvenuto Cellini for Duke Cosimo I de' Medici for a site in the Loggia dei Lanzi in the Piazza della Signoria in Florence, on which see MP I:xxi and the footnote at Works, 3.21.
Antonio Canova 1757-1822
Perseus with Medusa's Head 1801
Marble statue, 235x190x110cm
Collection: Vatican Museum, Rome
For a reproduction of this artistic work, please consult: Praz, Mario, L'opera completa del Canova, (Milano: Rizzoli Editore), pl.28