The Decanting of the Canova casts at Crawford Art Gallery

The Crawford Art Gallery’s iconic collection of Canova casts have departed the building for the first time in 140 years, with a delicate process of crating and removing the much-loved artworks concluding the last few weeks.

The Crawford Art Gallery closed to the public in September of this year to undergo an enormously exciting capital redevelopment project: Transforming Crawford Art Gallery.

This multi-million euro investment will increase gallery space by almost 50%, preserve and protect three centuries of existing built heritage, and create a cultural legacy for a new century as Cork continues to grow. The project is a Government of Ireland 2040 project funded by the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media in partnership with the Office of Public Works (OPW).

It is a historic moment in the life of the gallery, the casts, and Cork, as 25 plaster cast and marble works departed the nineteenth century wing of the gallery, built by brewing magnate William Horatio Crawford in 1884, in part to house the sculptures.

In October 1818 a ship from the UK containing 219 sculpture casts arrived into Cork. The acquisition of classical casts made an important contribution to Cork burgeoning art scene and in today’s Crawford Art Galley a cross section of them form the centre of an impressive sculpture display.

Their context and journey to Cork is a unique story. Around 1810, Pope Pius VII was anxious to express his gratitude to the English people for the return to the Vatican Galleries of many masterpieces looted by Napoleon Bonaparte. The pope commissioned Italian artist Antonio Canova to make a set of over one hundred casts from the classical collection in the Vatican.

Canova (1757-1822) was deemed the greatest sculptor of his time and his name was renown across Europe. A student of antiquity, he had interests in Roman restoration projects of artwork. His early work of a statuette of Apollo Crowning Himself, which he entered into a competition organised by the Venetian aristocrat Don Abbondio Rezzonico. This work led to a large successful line of marble statue commissions across Europe comprising Holland, Austria, Poland, Russia, and England.

In France Napoleon Bonaparte was a patron of his commissioning large amounts of work and artistic depictions of Napoleon posing as the Roman God of War. Members of Napoleon’s family were also depicted in marble casts such as his sister, second wife and mother (appears in the Crawford Art Gallery). In 1802, be was given the post of Inspector-General of Antiquities and Fine Art of the Papal State.

As a diplomatic gesture, in 1812, a set of Canova casts were shipped to London by the Vatican as a gift to the Prince Regent, later George IV. The prince showed a lack of appreciation towards his papal acquisitions and the casts lay firstly in the London Custom House and then in the basement of his residence in Carleton Gardens.

William Hare, 1st Lord Listowel of Convamore, Co. Cork (beside the River Blackwater), was a patron of the arts and as friend of the prince suggested that they be donated as a gift to the people of Cork.

The prince regent donated the casts to the Society of Fine Arts in Cork City, whose premises was located on what is now the intersection of St Patrick’s Street and Opera Lane. An article in the Belfast Newsletter notes that the casts were shipped on Saturday 24 October 1818 – arriving a few days after. A contemporary account best tells the story of this event, more especially when it comes from a manuscript autobiographical sketch written by one of the greatest beneficiaries from the casts, Corkman Daniel Maclise.

“A former theatre once supported by the Apollo Society of Amateur Actors was fixed upon as the most suitable place for the reception of the valuable collection of casts. It was situated in a principal street, Patrick Street, and the stage was screened off by a well-painted scene of the interior of a Greek temple. The pit was boarded over and the gallery was partitioned off. The boxes remained only as they were, and the statues were arranged around the parterre with much taste on moveable pedestals under the superintendence of a London gentleman who was sent over for the purpose, and whose name happened appropriately enough to be Corkaigne.”

Shortly after the acquisition, the Cork Society of Fine Arts suffered financial difficulty and could not pay the rent of the premises in which the casts were kept. Under considerable embarrassment, they applied to the government for monetary aid.

The Westminster Government and under the recommendation of the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland stated they could grant no aid but recommended them to amalgamate with the Royal Cork Institution.

An arrangement was made that the Royal Cork Institution should attain the casts and pay the debt of £500-£600 that was contracted by the Society of Fine Arts. A compromise was made of £300 and the casts were moved to the institution’s premises on Jameson Row. Years later again, they were moved to the Crawford Art Gallery when it opened in 1885.

After months of planning for the delicate operation of moving the Canova casts, in our time the operation has included Crawford Art Gallery staff seeking expert opinion from London sculptural conservators Taylor Pearce Ltd. Bespoke storage crates were commissioned for each sculpture. Many of the sculptures are estimated to weigh in excess of two tonnes, with smaller pieces weighing in at anywhere between 75kg to 500kg.

Gallery director Mary McCarthy praised the dedication of the team involved in the removal of the 3D artworks, and said the feat was a pivotal moment in the history of Crawford Art Gallery.

She noted: “I’m delighted to announce the successful removal of our beautiful Canova casts from the Sculpture Galleries, a big moment for Crawford Art Gallery as these treasured works have not been moved out of the building for 140 years. This is a huge milestone in the decant process of the entire collection into safe storage to prepare for Transforming Crawford Art Gallery, our capital redevelopment project.”

Mary also described that the planning and dedication and expertise that has gone into their safe removal has been awe-inspiring to see.

“I want to pay tribute to our in-house technical team, supported by additional external experts, our production manager and our registrar for their work in carrying off this historically important removal smoothly and with great professionalism.”