Beauty and the ideal

La Brera Art Gallery hosts an unmissable exhibition entirely dedicated to Antonio Canovaundisputed master of Neoclassicism. The exhibition, a collaboration with Banca Ifispresents for the first time in Milan the 12 busts of the sculptor, recently restored and from the private collection of the bank. These works, created between 1807 and 1818, bear witness to Canova's refined sculptural language, in which plaster becomes an instrument of perfection and a transition to marble.

Alongside them, the famous Vestalmarble sculpted by Canova between 1818 and 1819, placed at the centre of the new exhibition. In dialogue with the sculptures, the so-called travelling picture gallery of the collection of Giovanni Battista Sommarivawhich brings together small enamelled reproductions of pictorial masterpieces from the Napoleonic era. The exhibition not only highlights Canova's role in the training of the Academy's artists, but also gives the public an overview of the Neoclassical Breracultural heart of Enlightenment Milan.

The refurbishment, curated by Chiara Rostagno e Valentina Ferrarirepresents a tribute to the beauty as an ethical and universal value, a concept that Canova was able to embody in his creations and which today is re-proposed as a symbol of peace, harmony and dialogue. The tour, enriched by references to the history of the collection and patronage, allows visitors to discover masterpieces such as Hebe, Terpsichore, Venus Italica, Peace and portraits of Pauline Borghese, Caroline Murat, Elisa Baciocchi and Letizia Ramolino Bonaparte.

An international event that reaffirms the link between private collecting and public institutionsoffering a unique journey into the world of Canova and the myth of the ideal beauty.