the painting of Darius and his
Family, by Paul Veronese, and other fine works. This may be called
Canova's last work in Venice, as he went to Rome soon after his
twenty-third birthday.

The Cavaliere Zuliani was then the representative of Venice in Rome, and
Faliero gave Canova letters to him. Zuliani was an enlightened patron of
art, and he received the young sculptor with great kindness, and soon
arranged to have his model of Daedalus and Icarus exhibited to the best
artists and judges of art in Rome. We can fancy the anxiety with which
Canova went to this exhibition; but the praise which he there received
secured for him a place among the artists then in Rome.

Canova had a great desire to undertake a group of some important
subject, and Zuliani was his friend in this; for he gave him the marble,
and promised if no other purchaser appeared to give him the full value
of the work when completed. He also gave him a workshop in the Venetian
Palace, to which no one had access, where he could be entirely free and
undisturbed. The subject chosen for the group was Theseus vanquishing
the Minotaur, and the size was to be colossal. Canova now worked with
untiring devotion; he was often seen before the statues on Monte
Cavallo, with sketch-book in hand, as soon as it was light enough for
him to see, and he studied faithfully in the museums and galleries of
Rome. His friends in Venice had secured for him a pension of three
hundred ducats, which placed him above want, and he was free to devote
himself to his Theseus, although while at work on that he made a statue
of Apollo, which was exhibited with Angelini's Minerva, and received
much praise.

Meantime no one knew of the Theseus save the ambassador. When it was
finished Zuliani prepared it for exhibition, and invited all the most
distinguished men in Rome to an entertainment. A model of the head of
Theseus was put in a prominent place, and the guests were busy in
discussing it; they asked questions and expressed opinions, and when
their interest was well awakened Zuliani said: "Come, let us end this
discussion by seeing the original," and the statue was unveiled before
their eyes. Canova often declared that death itself could not have been
more terrible to him than were those moments. But he and all else were
forgotten in the surprise and admiration which the group excited; in
that hour the artists who afterward hated him gave him their sincere
praise. From that day the fam