Antonio Canova

A good many years ago, there lived in Italy a little boy whose name was Antonio Canova. He lived with his grandparents. His grandfather was a stone-cutter, and they were very poor.

Antonio was a puny lad. He was not strong enough to work, but he liked to go with his grandfather to the stone-yard. While the old man was busy, cutting and trimming the great blocks of stone, Antonio would play among the chips. Sometimes he would make a little statue of soft clay. Other times he would take hammer and chisel and try to cut a statue from a piece of rock. He showed so much skill that his grandfather was delighted.