Tempio Canoviano Historical Timeline

A sculptor's commission to himself

By 1819 Canova was the most celebrated sculptor in Europe and wealthy enough to act as his village's patron. He undertook to replace its inadequate parish church at his own expense, and to design the replacement himself, working with the architect Giovanni Antonio Selva and others on the execution.

Built after his death

Canova laid the foundation stone in 1819. He died in Venice in 1822 with the building well short of complete. His half-brother, Giovanni Battista Sartori, saw the work through, and the Tempio was consecrated in 1830.

The tomb

Canova is buried here, in a tomb inside the building he designed. His heart was placed separately, in the monument to him in the Frari in Venice — a memorial that reuses a pyramid design he had originally drawn for someone else.

Since

It has remained the working parish church of Possagno throughout, which is the reason it has never been converted into a museum of itself.

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