BY C. FOSSI, AFTER ANTONIO CANOVA, ROME, LATE 19TH CENTURY

Carved after the original reclining figure by Antonio Canova (d.1822) in 1808, this celebrated portrait of Paolina Borghese was frequently reproduced in the 19th and early 2oth centuries. Originally titled 'Venus Venere Vincitrice' and modelled as the sister of Napoleon Bonaparte as Venus with the apple of Paris in her left hand, it was commissioned by her husband, the Prince Camillo Borghese and is now in the Museo Borghese, Rome.