The statue depicts Laocon, the priest of Apollo from the city of Troy, and his two sons. In Aeneid, Virgil describes the circumstances of Laocon's death: The story of Laocon is not mentioned by Homer, but it had been the subject of a tragedy, now lost, by Sophocles and was mentioned by other Greek writers, though the events around the attack by the serpents vary considerably. It is very likely the same statue praised in the highest terms by the main Roman writer on art, Pliny the Elder. Thus, while preparing to sacrifice a bull on the altar of the god Poseidon (a task that had fallen to him by lot), Laocon and his twin sons, Antiphas and Thymbraeus (also called Melanthus), were crushed to death by two great sea serpents, Porces and Chariboea (or Curissia or Periboea), sent by Apollo. This statue displays balance, harmony, perfection, and strength. Laocon and His Sons Muscles contorting in anguish, fangs brutally piercing the flesh, faces drowning in suffering. According to Virgil, Laocon advised the Trojans to not receive the horse from the Greeks. The most detailed description of Laocon's grisly fate was provided by Quintus Smyrnaeus in Posthomerica, a later, literary version of events following the Iliad. Joseph Nollekens 17371823 Laocon and his Sons About 180305 For this terracotta study Nollekens freely adapted a classical marble in the Vatican. Laocon and his sons believed to be created during the late Hellenistic period around 160-20 BCE. Laocon and his sons being attacked by serpents, Marco Dente, c. 151527, Met Museum, New York . ", In Sophocles, however, he was a priest of Apollo who should have been celibate but had married. Such is the case with the Laocon, for example, in the palace of the Emperor Titus, a work that may be looked upon as preferable to any other production of the art of painting or of [bronze] statuary. Laocon was a Trojan priest who warned the citizens of Troy against bringing the Greeks wooden horse into the city. An even more tangible depiction of Laocons gruesome end, from the same period, is the much-admired marble statue titled Laocon and His Sons that now stands in Romes Vatican Museums. Pliny the Elder, Natural History (Photo: Wikimedia Commons Public Domain). Zoo Gorilla Brings Her Baby Over To Meet Mom and Newborn on Other Side of Glass, Bindi Irwin Shares Illustrated Family Portrait With Dad Steve Irwin Holding Her Baby, Photorealistic Image Shows How George Washington Might Look if He Was Alive Today, Miami Beachs First Underwater Sculpture Park Is 7 Miles Long and Will Open Later This Year, 4,000-Year-Old Ancient Egyptian Writing Board Shows Students Spelling Mistakes, 1,600-Year-Old Geometric Mosaic Discovered in Israel, Lost Golden City Discovered in Egypt Gives a Glimpse Into the Lives of Ancient Pharaohs, Drought Reveals Spanish Stonehenge That Had Been Hiding In a Reservoir For Over 50 Years, Australias Oldest Known Rock Art is a 17,300-Year-Old Kangaroo Painting, $35 Bowl Bought in Yard Sale Turns Out To Be Rare Ming Dynasty Artifact Worth $500,000, 1,900-Year-Old Ceremonial Chariot Has Been Discovered Near Pompeii, The Atacama Giant: The Largest Prehistoric Anthropomorphic Geoglyph in the World, 1,500-Year-Old Greek Inscription Reading Christ, Born of Mary Found in Israel, 15,000-Year-Old Bison Sculptures Are Perfectly Preserved in a French Cave, British Birdwatcher Accidentally Discovers 1,300 Pieces of Buried Treasure, What Is Ancient Assyrian Art? In the case of several works of very great excellence, the number of artists that have been engaged upon them has proved a considerable obstacle to the fame of each, no individual being able to engross the whole of the credit, and it being impossible to award it in due proportion to the names of the several artists combined.