Tadolini initially trained at the Accademia di Belle Arti in his birthplace of Bologna. He demonstrated great talent as a sculptor at an early age, winning the Accademia’s Curlandese prize in 1808 for his terracotta relief Venus Giving Arms to Aeneas. In 1814, sponsored by the Accademia, he relocated to Rome where he was awarded the prize established for young sculptors by Antonio Canova for his plaster statue Ajax Cursing the Gods. That same year Tadolini joined Canova’s studio, soon becoming his most talented assistant, renowned for his skill in reproducing classical proportions and executing marble copies of Canova’s models with remarkable fidelity. Canova later supported Tadolini’s establishment of his own workshop on Via dei Greci. Following Tadolini's death, his son, Scipione Tadolini, took over the workshop which remained operational under the family’s stewardship for successive generations.