Antonio Canova’s sculpture work is revered for its magnificence and knowing that an exhibition featuring casts of the pieces, rather than the pieces themselves, already sets this exhibit apart in a great way, with the real ones safe where they belong. The gifts from Pope Pius VII to George IV for defeating Napoleon Bonaparte, despite their magnificence, come up a little…short.
Whilst containing a wide variety of special, detailed and breathtaking pieces, Recasting Canova has nothing out of the ordinary or surprising that would be unexpected – it does exactly what it says on the wall and very little else. Where there may be space for interactivity, connective details between the pieces or more about Canova himself, the exhibit relies on the sheer shock and awe of these statues, which whilst certainly present, do little to captivate you once you’ve become familiar with it. When the most surprising element of an exhibition is that the walls are a calming blue, you know there’s work still to be done.
But this is not to minimise the craftmanship that clearly has gone into recreating each of these pieces with such care and accuracy. Whether it’s the towering figure of the museum namesake William Crawford, the tomb of the Right Honourable James Dennis, ordained with magnificent stone adornments, or even an 1880s anatomical study, created by M. Jane Twiss, Recasting Canova has at least given me some classic museum images, and at least inspired me to want to travel and see the real works that made these casts possible.
Being reconstructed pieces, this exhibition is an important message to institutions worldwide that still feature items which were repossessed from those whom originally manufactured them. The simple fact that items of this magnitude can be cast and recreated to keep the originals where they belong shows what is not only possible, but righteous. If a small museum in Cork can achieve such sizable casts at such high quality, other museums should certainly be doing the same!
The reconstructions of Crawford Art Gallery’s very first relics, Recasting Canova does an effective job at transporting viewers to the craftsmanship of old, showing the incredible power of stonemasonry, reconstruction and creation, in a way that is indiscernible from the actual artefacts had visitors not been warned previously. But is it enough to hold attention? I’m not sure that it is. Particularly given the nature of other exhibitions within the walls of Crawford’s galley, Recasting Canova relies on shock, awe and wonder to illuminate the minds of its guests, but when the illumination is brighter elsewhere, the exhibit has little choice but to pale in comparison.
Rating: ★★★☆☆
Recasting Canova is a continuing collection in Cork’s Crawford Art Gallery
