that it elicited a chorus of admiration from the delighted guests,
who were eager to know who the great sculptor was who had deigned
to expend his genius on such perishable material. Signor Falieri,
unable to gratify their curiosity, sent for his head servant, who
gave them the history of the centerpiece. Antonio was immediately
summoned to the banquet hall, where he blushingly received the
praises and congratulations of all present, and the promise of
Signer Falieri to become his patron, and thus enable him to
achieve fame as a sculptor.

Such, according to some biographers, was the turning point in the
career of Antonio Canova, who, from a peasant lad, born in the
little Venetian village of Possagno, rose to be the most
illustrious sculptor of his age.

Whether or not the story be true, it is certain that when the boy
was in his thirteenth year, Signer Falieri placed him in the
studio of Toretto, a Venetian sculptor, then living near Asola.
But it is equally certain that the fame which crowned Canova's
manhood, the title of Marquis of Ischia, the decorations and
honors so liberally bestowed upon him by the ruler of the Vatican,
kings, princes, and emperors, were all the fruits of his ceaseless
industry, high ideals, and unfailing enthusiasm.

The little Antonio began to draw almost as soon as he could hold a
pencil, and the gown of the dear old grandmother who so tenderly
loved him, and was so tenderly loved in return, often bore the
marks of baby fingers fresh from modeling in clay.

Antonio's father having died when the child was but three years