Italian, probably 18th century

Christie's New York, 18 May 1989, lot 162

The ancient Roman marble group of the Laocoön has inspired interpretation and reinterpretation over the last 500 years. It remains probably the most famous of all antique sculptures through which generations have been able to reflect their own particular struggle. The subject is taken from the history of the Trojan Wars. Laocoön, a priest of Apollo in Troy, tried to warn his countrymen that the Trojan horse should not be trusted. In so doing he angered Athena, who sent sea serpents to kill him and his two sons as they prayed to Poseidon by the seashore. The fascinating 2001 exhibition at the Louvre, D’après l’antique, explored the Laocoön’s multifarious inspirations. One of the most extraordinary is the engraving by Niccolo Boldrini made around 1545, less than 50 years after the group was discovered, that shows the protagonists as monkeys.

The involvement of Titian and the print's real meaning have been, and remain, much debated, but the power of the visual metaphor is intensely striking. Over the centuries the Laocoön has been used countless times in political parodies and inspired artists from Rubens to Max Ernst. Most recently, the Jordanian illustrator Emad Hajjaj has brought the relevance of the Laocoön up to the present day with his striking cartoon of Laocoön and his sons struggling with a coronavirus. The image continues to be a potent symbol.

Despite the changes in style and taste in Europe from the High Renaissance to Neoclassicism and beyond, the popularity of the Laocoön has remained undiminished. From Antico’s diminutive bronze version to Baccio Bandinelli’s life-size marble, replicas have been in constant demand in every material and size from the moment of its discovery on 14th January 1506. During the 17th and 18th centuries, the main centres of the production of bronze copies were Rome, Florence and Paris. Roman casts, like those of Orazio Albrizzi in the 1620s-1650s, or those made by the Righetti and Zoffoli foundries during the Neoclassical period have particular characteristics which make them quite recognisable. The present, finely executed cast, is likely to date to this period, and was probably made in the second half of the 18th century.