From 10 August to 10 September 2025, there will be a temporary exhibition at the Museo Civico di San Domenico dedicated to the Funeral Monument to Ottavio Trento, a rare plaster cast from Antonio Canova's studio.

The work of art, which had been fixed to one of the walls of the Palazzo del Merenda for decades, underwent major restoration work in 2023. The restoration has restored the cast's formal legibility and aesthetic value, confirming its quality and rarity. It is, in fact, a direct cast in pieces, made on the original marble before it left Canova's studio in August 1815 to reach its final destination, the Benedictine complex of San Pietro in Vicenza.

The monument is a classic funerary stele, typical of Canova's work, with an antique-style draped female figure accompanying the bust of the deceased. The composition, inspired by ancient Greek models, aims to represent an ideal of beauty and moral virtue.
The person commemorated, Ottavio Trento, was a politician active in the Most Serene Republic of Venice, podestà of Chioggia and Bergamo, and benefactor of the city of Vicenza, to which he donated funds for the creation of a retirement home and workhouse for the poor.
In 1812, Vicenza commissioned the commemorative stele from Antonio Canova, who chose to represent Happiness in the act of engraving Trento's praises on the column supporting his bust.

The Forlì plaster cast was donated to the Civic Art Gallery in the 1920s by Ercole Gaddi Pepoli and is now returning to the exhibition rooms after a long period. Its exposition, alongside the Hebe preserved at the Civic Museum of San Domenico and the Manzoni stele of the Church of the Holy Trinity, enriches the itinerary dedicated to Canova's presence in Forlì.

Useful information
📆 Opening hours:
from Tuesday to Sunday, 10:00–13:00 and 17:00–20:00, with the ticket office closing half an hour earlier.
(Closed on Mondays)
️ Ticket: reduced admission €3
🔍 The ticket allows access to both the temporary exhibition and the complete museum itinerary of the Civic Art Gallery.