Antonio Canova was an Italian artist who was primarily active as a sculptor. He is considered one of the most influential artists of his time and one of the main representatives of neoclassicism, which mixes the influences of the Baroque and classical antiquity. Born in a village near Treviso, he was brought up after the early death of his father by his grandfather, who worked as a stonemason and owned a quarry. From 1770, Canova attended the Accademia di Belle Arti in Venice and was already awarded several prizes during his training. Until 1780, he carried out numerous commissions in Venice for palazzi and villas of Venetian patricians, including his first life-size sculptures, Orpheus and Eurydice. At the end of December 1780, Canova moved to Rome, financially secured by a grant from the Republic of Venice. With assistance from the well-connected Venetian ambassador, he was able to quickly establish himself in Rome, where he produced, for instance, the funerary monuments for Popes Clement XIII, Clement XIV and Pius VI. Around 1800, Canova was the most famous artist in Europe. Between 1802 and 1809, he produced several busts and life- or larger-than-life statues for Napoleon's family, including the monumental Napoleon as Mars the Peacemaker and Pauline Bonaparte as Venus Victrix. Canova travelled throughout Europe until 1816, when he returned to Rome. In Rome, he continued to receive numerous prestigious commissions, including one from the state of North Carolina commissioning a statue of George Washington from him. He also designed the small temple Tempio Canoviano, modelled on the Pantheon, for his home town of Possagno. After his death, Canova was buried in this temple, but parts of him were inhumed in Venice: his heart in the Frari Church and his right hand in the Accademia di Belle Arti.