Lot 97
97
AN ENGLISH SCULPTED MARBLE RELIEF OF THE LAOCOON
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AN ENGLISH SCULPTED MARBLE RELIEF OF THE LAOCOON

SECOND HALF 16TH CENTURY

Details
AN ENGLISH SCULPTED MARBLE RELIEF OF THE LAOCOON
Second half 16th century
16in. (40.6cm.) high
Provenance
The Dukes of Westminster, Eaton Hall, Cheshire.
Special notice
No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 17.5% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.

Lot Essay

The medallion, inspired by Virgil's account of a Grecian legend (Aeneid II,199-231), depicts the punishment of the Trojan priest Laocoön, who was strangled by serpents at Apollo's altar. While the figure of the priest derives from the celebrated antiquity discovered in Rome in 1506 and displayed in the Vatican Museum's Belvedere, the posture of his sons has been rendered in a more dramatic fashion. A variety of reconstructions of the antique group were produced in the sixteenth century before the final position of the sons was chosen quite arbitrarily.

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