Deposition

In the last years of his life Canova was entirely absorbed by the generous dream of giving his native town a grandiose temple, adorned with works of art; it was for the Temple, in fact, that he was studying a complex group, with tight rhythms, tragically agitated; not forgetful of the precedents of Michelangelo and Bernini, but perhaps, even more, aware of the teaching of the Venetian painters of the 16th century.