{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O96376"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O96376/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2021NB6121/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2021NB6121/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2021NB6121","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2021NB6122","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2021NB6123","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2006AF4678","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2019LY7600","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2019LY7667","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2019LY7599","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2019LY7580","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2019LY9521","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2019LY9520","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2019LY9519","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2019LY9498","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O96376/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O96376","accessionNumber":"A.5&A-1962","objectType":"Statue","titles":[{"title":"Theseus and the Minotaur","type":"generic title"}],"summaryDescription":"The legendary Greek hero Theseus sits astride the minotaur whom he has just killed. Coils of thread used by Theseus to retrace his steps from the minotaur's lair can be seen by the minotaur's left leg. This was one of Canova's earliest completed works after he left Venice to settle in Rome in 1780. The massive block of marble from which this group was carved was given to Canova by his patron Girolamo Zulian, who was Venetian ambassador in Rome in 1781. Zulian gave Canova the choice of subject for the work, and he decided on one of the stories from Ovid's <i>Metamorphoses</i>.\r\n\r\nThe Scottish painter, archaeologist and dealer, Gavin Hamilton (1723-1798), who was a friend of Canova, advised that he should portray Theseus and the Minotaur after their struggle. He considered that Canova would gain more favour and critical acclaim if he were to create a static group rather than a violent one. The sculpture did indeed receive widespread acclaim, and helped establish Canova's reputation as the leading European sculptor of his day. By the time Canova finished the work in 1782, his patron Zulian had moved to Constantinople, and he therefore allowed Canova to keep it. Canova sold it to an Austrian nobleman and collector, Count Johann Josef Graf von Fries (1765-1788), and it was transported to Vienna. Later it was acquired by the 3rd Marquis of Londonderry and was installed in Londonderry House, probably during the 1820s. The contents of the house were sold in the 1960s prior to its demolition, when the Museum acquired the sculpture.","physicalDescription":"Theseus seated on the prostrate Minotaur, holds a club in his left hand and rests his right on the left leg of his victim.","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Canova, Antonio","id":"A8217"},"association":{"text":"maker","id":"AAT251917"},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"marble","id":"AAT11443"}],"techniques":[],"materialsAndTechniques":"Marble","categories":[{"text":"Sculpture","id":"THES48896"},{"text":"Myths & Legends","id":"THES49005"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"SCP","id":"THES48600"},"images":["2021NB6121","2021NB6122","2021NB6123","2006AF4678","2019LY7600","2019LY7667","2019LY7599","2019LY7580","2019LY9521","2019LY9520","2019LY9519","2019LY9498"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"22 (VA)","id":"THES49843"},"free":"","case":"FS","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"22","id":"THES49843"},"free":"","case":"FS","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Statue","id":""}],[{"text":"plinth","id":"AAT1749"}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Rome","id":"x29106"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"1782","earliest":"1782-01-01","latest":"1782-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[{"object":{"text":"MA/1/N85","id":"ARC174395"},"association":"Archive record"}],"creditLine":"Purchased with Art Fund support","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"145.4","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Length","value":"158.7","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"91.4","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Weight","value":"940","unit":"kg","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"marble group","note":""},{"dimension":"Weight","value":"238","unit":"kg","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"base","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"Workshop of Antonio Canova, Rome; purchased by Johann Josef Graf von Fries and brought to Fries Palace in Vienna in 1788; purchased by Charles William Vane, 3rd Marquess of Londonderry in 1822 and brought to Londonderry House, London, in 1824; purchased by the V&A in 1962. \r\nBought with the assistance of the National Art-Collections Fund (£1000) for £3000 from the Executor of the 7th Marquess of Londonderry (Lord Nathan).","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Statue, marble, of Theseus and the Minotaur, by Antonio Canova, made in Rome, 1782","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Alessio Costarelli, <i>Canova e gli Inglesi</i>, Milan, 2022, pp. 167-9, cat. 1. "},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Frasca-Rath, Anna and Wickham, Annette, eds. <u>John Gibson: A British Sculptor in Rome</u>, exh. cat., 2016, p.8."},{"reference":{"text":"Bindman, David. <u>Warm Flesh, Cold Marble - Canova, Thorvaldsen and their Critics</u>, Yale University Press, New Haven and London, 2014","id":"AUTH331489"},"details":"p. 29, ill. p. 30, fig. 10","free":""},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Nicholas Penny, ‘Lord Londonderry and his Canovas’, in <i>Studi neoclassici</i>, 2013, vol. 1, pp. 175-80."},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Baker, Malcolm, <u>Figured in Marble. The Making and Viewing of Eighteenth-Century Sculpture</u>, London, 2000, frontispiece (engraving)"},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Williamson, Paul (ed), <u>European Sculpture at the Victoria and Albert Museum</u>, London, Victoria & Albert Museum, 1996, pp. 168-9"},{"reference":{"text":"<i>The Age of Neo-Classicism</i>, London : Arts Council of Great Britain, 1972","id":"AUTH354451"},"details":"No. 307","free":""},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Hugh Honour, ‘Canova’s Theseus and the Minotaur’, in <i>Yearbook / Victoria and Albert Museum</i>, 1969, vol. 1, pp.1-15."}],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[{"text":"Theseus","id":"N259"},{"text":"Minotaur","id":"N260"}],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[{"text":"club","id":"AAT37206"},{"text":"thread","id":"AAT14250"}],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[{"text":"Antonio Canova (1757–1822)\r\nTheseus and the Minotaur\r\n1782\n\r\nBased on the ancient Greek myth, this sculpture represents the moment after the Greek hero Theseus has killed the Minotaur (a half-man, half-bull monster). On the rock are coils of thread he needs to retrace his steps out of the labyrinth, the creature’s lair. This work, sculpted by Canova in his twenties, received widespread praise. It helped establish the young artist as the leading European sculptor of his day.\n\r\nRome\r\nMarble\r\nFormerly in the Londonderry collection","date":{"text":"2021","earliest":"2021-01-01","latest":"2021-12-31"}}],"partNumbers":["A.5-1962","A.5A-1962"],"accessionNumberNum":"5","accessionNumberPrefix":"A","accessionYear":1962,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":["2019LN5374","2019LN4286","2019LT1360","2019LU8987","2019LW7671","2022NH0348","2023NM0129","2023NM2166"],"recordModificationDate":"2026-04-01","recordCreationDate":"2004-03-08","availableToBook":false}}