Lacoon and his sons

A statue that has really stood out in my mind was the marble statue of Lacoon and his sons. After seeing so many sculptures they start to look similar and become a big blur. Only the great ones have really stood out in my mind when I look back and this is definitely one of them. There is so much emotion, and it is unlike any other statue. This statue is a must see and one of my very favorites. This statue can be found at the Vatican museum near the statue of Apollo.
I wanted to start from the beginning of this sculptures fame but the most I could find about the discovery of this statue was that it was discovered in 1506 and it was found around the Esquiline Hill. I did find one fictional story that I found interesting and thought I would share it, I summarized it in the paragraph below.
“One day in 1506, Signer Fredis was walking in his vineyard on the Esquiline Hill in Rome. He had men working the day before to find water but had no luck. While deciding if it was a lost cause he put a stick into the pit to see how deep the soil was. He pushed it into the ground up to the handle with ease; therefore he thought that there must be something hollow underneath. Wanting to discover it himself he got to work and started digging alone. When he made the hole big enough to fit through he grabbed a lantern and came to a vaulted room. After that he wandered through five rooms finding nothing until he came to the sixth. There he found the statue of Lacoon and his sons.”
From the writings Pliny the Elder there were three sculptors of the statue. (Pliny died in the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius.) The three sculptors he mentioned from the Island of Rhodes were Hagesandros, Athandoros, and Polydoros. He said it was in the palace of Titus and was preferred to the others depictions in bronze and paint. After the discovery of the statue it was recognized from Pliny’s description. Pope Julius II bought the statue for the Vatican and placed it in the Belvedere Garden. There the statue was cleaned and further studied. Parts missing from the statues were attached in the position they thought was correct. The right arm of Lacoon that was missing was made extending upwards. Later they found that the position of the actual arm was bent instead of extended. They know this now because the arm was later found in 1957 in a builders yard in Rome.
The statue was most likely commissioned for the home of a wealthy Roman. The suggested dates of the statue range from 160 BC to 20 BC. Inscriptions were found that date Athendoros and Hagesandros to around 42 BC makes 42 to 20 BC the most likely dates for its creation. The story behind the statue is the story of the Trojan horse. Lacoon was a Trojan priest, the priest of Apollo, and warned the other people not to accept the large wooden horse from the Greeks. He even inserted a spear into the horses side to see if it was empty. To prevent the Greeks from being discovered Poseiden and Athena sent two serpents to kill Lacoon and his sons. The people took this as an omen to receive the horse so they would not be punished as well.
When you look at this statue you can see the agony and pain in the faces of the three figures. Lacoon is straining his body trying to get away with his head tilted upwards as the serpent bites his side.. The two boys look to him in fear, one has already been bitten by the serpent, both entwined in the serpents grip. So much emotion and fear found in one pose. They are all being overpowered in their helpless struggle.