In the middle of Via del Babuino, surrounded by designer shops, Giuseppe Albano stops at a cafe. From the outside, Canova Tadolini looks like any other. But Giuseppe gestures inside to a giant, white man sitting on a giant, white horse. They’re barrelling towards the door, with more spectral, white statues behind them, gathered like an army of wraiths.
“This was the studio of Canova and his star pupil, Tadolino,” says Giuseppe. The man on horseback is a plaster cast, and so too are the figures behind him, including athletes and a nun. The workshop belonged to Tadolino’s family until 1967, when it became a cafe. Tourists walk past, oblivious to the significance of what’s inside, often more interested in Il Babuino, a nearby fountain of a reclining Roman named…
