Antonio Canova was born on November 1, 1757 in Possagno, Republic of Venice and was an Italian Neoclassical sculptor, famous for his marble sculptures. Often regarded as the greatest of the Neoclassical artists his sculpture was inspired by the Baroque and the classical revival, and has been characterized as having avoided the melodramatics of the former, and the cold artificiality of the latter. This lovely statue depicts a young boy reading.