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Lot Essay
The subject here, Laocoön, was a Troyan priest of Apollo. As related by Virgil, the priest dared to protest against drawing the wooden horse into the city of Troy, uttering the famous words "Whatever it is, even when Greeks bring gifts I fear them, gifts and all" (Virgil, The Aeneid, Book II, 59-70). Hence Laocoön and his two sons were condemned by the anger of the gods to be crushed to death by serpents.
Bought by Pope Julius II (d. 1513) soon after its excavation in 1506, Laocoön was installed in the Belvedere Courtyard of the Musei Vaticani and was later identified by the Pontiff's architect to be the group referred to by Pliny at the Palace of Titus. Since the rediscovery of the original marble, Laocoön has been considered the greatest example of tragic emotion in art, and immediately became one of the main sources of inspiration for Mannerist and Baroque artists and sculptors.
At the time of excavation, Laocoön lacked his right arm, and both his sons lacked their right hands. Though the sons' hands seem to have been restored in marble by 1523, some speculation still remained regarding the intended position of Laocoön 's right arm. A terracotta arm extended upwards fixed to the group in the 1530s was said to be modelled by Michelangelo's protégé Montorsoli. However, a copy of the Laocoön by Bartolommeo (Baccio) Bandinelli (d. 1560) in 1525, later confirmed by the antique cameos circulating in the 18th Century, depicts a bent arm.
In 1800, still unsettled with regard to the arm's position, all restorations, including those of the sons, were detached when the group was removed to Paris to be displayed in the Musée Central des Arts at its inauguration. Upon its return to the Vatican Museum in 1816, the sons' arms and a new stucco arm, again extending upwards, were attached. In 1942, this stucco arm was removed and a bent arm, battered and without a hand, was affixed instead. A cast of the group as it was before the final restorations was installed in an adjacent niche of the Belvedere Courtyard where it remains today.
So popular was the model, that the group has been cast and copied in a range of materials. The present lot is a rare life-size bronze cast of the version prior to the 1942 restorations, made by the prolific Chiurazzi foundry. Established by sculptor J. Chiurazzi in Naples in 1860, the Fonderia Chiurazzi was at one time the only company licensed by the Vatican to reproduce their collected works for broader public appreciation and distribution for study among the artistic circle. In a period when the demand for Grand Tour collectibles from Pompeii and Herculaneum was flourishing, the Fonderia Chiurazzi found itself in a unique position being the leading source for those objects.
Another example of this model is retained by The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art in Sarasota, Florida (Bequest of John Ringling, 1936, SN5084). John Ringling (d. 1936) purchased many fine bronze reproductions of famous ancient sculptures directly from the Chiurazzi Foundry during the 1920s.
Bought by Pope Julius II (d. 1513) soon after its excavation in 1506, Laocoön was installed in the Belvedere Courtyard of the Musei Vaticani and was later identified by the Pontiff's architect to be the group referred to by Pliny at the Palace of Titus. Since the rediscovery of the original marble, Laocoön has been considered the greatest example of tragic emotion in art, and immediately became one of the main sources of inspiration for Mannerist and Baroque artists and sculptors.
At the time of excavation, Laocoön lacked his right arm, and both his sons lacked their right hands. Though the sons' hands seem to have been restored in marble by 1523, some speculation still remained regarding the intended position of Laocoön 's right arm. A terracotta arm extended upwards fixed to the group in the 1530s was said to be modelled by Michelangelo's protégé Montorsoli. However, a copy of the Laocoön by Bartolommeo (Baccio) Bandinelli (d. 1560) in 1525, later confirmed by the antique cameos circulating in the 18th Century, depicts a bent arm.
In 1800, still unsettled with regard to the arm's position, all restorations, including those of the sons, were detached when the group was removed to Paris to be displayed in the Musée Central des Arts at its inauguration. Upon its return to the Vatican Museum in 1816, the sons' arms and a new stucco arm, again extending upwards, were attached. In 1942, this stucco arm was removed and a bent arm, battered and without a hand, was affixed instead. A cast of the group as it was before the final restorations was installed in an adjacent niche of the Belvedere Courtyard where it remains today.
So popular was the model, that the group has been cast and copied in a range of materials. The present lot is a rare life-size bronze cast of the version prior to the 1942 restorations, made by the prolific Chiurazzi foundry. Established by sculptor J. Chiurazzi in Naples in 1860, the Fonderia Chiurazzi was at one time the only company licensed by the Vatican to reproduce their collected works for broader public appreciation and distribution for study among the artistic circle. In a period when the demand for Grand Tour collectibles from Pompeii and Herculaneum was flourishing, the Fonderia Chiurazzi found itself in a unique position being the leading source for those objects.
Another example of this model is retained by The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art in Sarasota, Florida (Bequest of John Ringling, 1936, SN5084). John Ringling (d. 1936) purchased many fine bronze reproductions of famous ancient sculptures directly from the Chiurazzi Foundry during the 1920s.