Après les antiques: Laocoon et ses fils, bronze patiné, France, 19ème siècle

H 69,5 - L 49,3 - D 24,7 cm

The sculpture marked 'F. Barbedienne fondeur' and stamped 'Réduction mécanique A. Collas breveté'.

The statue of Laocoön and his sons (the Laocoön Group or Gruppo del Laocoonte) is one of the most famous ancient sculptures ever since it was excavated in Rome in 1506 and placed on public display in the Vatican.The group shows the Trojan priest Laocoön and his sons Antiphantes and Thymbraeus being attacked by sea serpents. Pliny attributes the sculpture to three Greek sculptors from the island of Rhodes: Agesander, Athenodoros and Polydorus.