Library

The Museo Gypsotheca Antonio Canova hosts a valuable library that includes three interesting sectors with thousands of books:
The first sector consists of more than 5000 volumes owned by Professor Massimiliano Pavan (1920-1991) and donated to the Museum by his family in 2009. The collection represents the profound interest of Professor Pavan, who taught Antique History at La Sapienza in Rome, for Art History, Archeology, Literature, and the Classical world in general. Pavan also collaborated with the Enciclopedia Treccani and wrote the entry for “Antonio Canova” in the Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani. Moreover, from 1985 to 1991, he was the President of the Canova Foundation.
The second sector consists of the volumes donated by Professor Elena Bassi (1911–1999). These books mainly focus on the artistic culture of Venice. Not only was she a researcher and a scholar, but also a Professor and the Director of the Accademia di Belle Arti in Venice. She made a significant critical contribution to the revaluation of Canovian work.

The third sector refers to the so-called Canovian Library that consists of thousands of volumes on the culture, life, and artworks of Antonio Canova. These vary from catalogs to monographic books, from guides to reviews, from conference proceedings to historical publications, and from anastatic of rare volumes to any publication related to the artist.
The majority of the books in the library are classified in the OPAC database and can be consulted upon request.

Possagno holds two extraordinary archives: one is owned by the Canova Foundation and the other by the Opera del Tempio.
The first archive consists of the administrative acts related to Canova’s period in Rome, such as receipts, payment orders to engravers, designers and printers for the making of his sculptures’ catalog, and other accounting documents related to the production, setup and sale of his works of art.
Moreover, the archive holds many documents related to Canova’s Parisian mission to bring back to Italy the Italian masterpieces stolen by Napoleon. Lastly it holds important documents related to the history of the Gypsotheca of Possagno, the statutes of the non-profit Canova Foundation, the financial records, and the destruction of the works of art during the First World War.

The Archive of the Opera del Tempio is a comprehensive collection of documents related to the construction and consecration of the Temple in Possagno. It also includes the acts, deliberations, and the correspondence of the organization founded by Bishop Sartori, Canova’s step brother, for the management and administration of the Temple.