The full-size plaster models that represented the passage from a preliminary designing phase to the production of the marble sculpture were of great significance to Italiansculptor Antonio Canova's creative process. As the subtitle emphasises,the temporal dimension holds great importance in the neoclassic sculptor's creative and productive phases: the plaster artefact posits abefore and an after. Before comes the preparatory study; after is the finished work. Plaster stands in between, it is central. The plaster forms are not the finished works, however they contain all their power and potential.This volume explores this meaningful and little-known phase in the creative process of Antonio Canova, along withquality close-up photo sequences that expose the plaster surfaces, bringing a greater focus and appreciation to the plaster form.
