Sculpture "Laocoon and its sons": description and reviews

Tragically, the work of Paros marble of three sculptors "Laocoon and his sons." The sculpture depicts the futile attempts of the father and his children to escape from the mortal embraces of the snakes braiding their bodies.

Prehistory of the myth

This story begins in very old days. At the beauty of Leda, the wife of King Sparta Tindarei, the daughter of Elena from the god Zeus was born. When she grew up, she became the most beautiful of all mortals.

A lot of her suitors suited her, but Elena chose the handsome Menelaus. After the death of Tyndareus, the king's throne was prepared for him.

The son of Priam was born to King Troy. The prophet predicted that this boy would destroy all the Trojans. At the behest of the tsar, he was thrown into the forest to die there, but he grew up in a beautiful youth and peacefully herded the flock.

The causes of the beginning of the war of the Trojans with the Greeks

Three goddesses - Athena, Hera and Aphrodite - received from the evil goddess of Eris's discord an apple with the inscription "the most beautiful". They could not share it among themselves. Sly Hermes persuaded Paris to be a judge in their dispute. Aphrodite promised Paris love of the most beautiful woman, Elena, and received the cherished apple. Paris stole Elena from Greece and took her to Troy. Thus began a long and bloody war between the Trojans and the Greeks for the beautiful Helen.

On the side of the Greeks was Athena, Apollo helped the Trojans. It is advisable to know when the sculpture "Laocoon" is considered.

The tricks of the Greeks

For a long, very long time, there was a war for ten years. Troy, besieged by the Greeks, did not give up. Many heroes perished on both sides. Tricky Odysseus thought of how to enter the besieged city of the Greek detachment of the Danais. The Greeks made a huge wooden horse. They were helped by Athena. They put their warriors in it and resorted to military cunning: they boarded their ships and sailed to the sea. The Trojans went to check the camp of the Greeks and stopped in amazement when they saw a huge horse.

Someone suggested to throw it into the sea, and someone - to take to Troy as a sign of victory. This is a very important point before creating the image of the predictor. Priest Laocoon, whose sculpture will be considered, will not escape the machinations of Athena-Pallas.

The ingenuousness of the Trojans

Before the fellow citizens came the priest of the god Apollo. The sculpture "Laocoon" shows not this moment. He begged fellow citizens not to touch the horse, predicted great calamities. Laocoon even threw a spear into the horse, and metal weapons rang inside. But the mind of the "victors" was quite confused. They did not believe that it was necessary to be afraid of the Danians who brought gifts. They trusted the stranger who said that the horse should pacify Athena-Pallas if they took him to their place. While he was talking about this, a miracle came from the sea, sent by Athena - two giant snakes. This completely convinced the Trojans, and they took the horse into the city.

Myth about Laocoon with sons

On the beach, Poseidon Laocoon prayed with his sons. To them, wriggling the bodies with rings and sparkling red, like coals, eyes and crests on their heads, terrible monsters swam to the shore faster and faster. Snakes, having got out of the sea, attacked the unfortunates. This moment reflects the sculpture "Laocoon". Strongly wrapped around the powerful bodies of snakes around people and trying to strangle them. Poisonous bites inflict pain and death. All this is shown by the sculpture Laocoon. This is what led to the careless faith in the victory of the inhabitants of Troy.

The history of the find of sculpture

Two thousand two hundred years ago, in Pergamum, unknown bronze sculptors cast a sculptural group that depicts the mortal struggle of Laocoon and his sons with snakes. The original disappeared. His copy was sculpted in Rhodes in marble by the Greeks. In the style of Hellenistic baroque came to us "Laocoon" (sculpture). The author of it is Agesandr of Rhodes and his sons Polydor and Afinodor. It was found in 1506 by Felix de Friedis in the vineyards under one of the Roman hills. There once stood the golden house of Nero. As soon as the pontiff Julius II learned about the valuable find, he immediately sent for its evaluation the architect Giuliano da Sangallo and Michelangelo. The architect immediately verified the authenticity of the work, which Pliny described. Buaonorroti determined that it was made of 2 pieces of marble, although Pliny spoke of an integral stone.

Its further destiny

At the end of the XVIII century, Bonaparte took the sculptural group to Paris. In the Louvre, it was open for inspection, and after the defeat of Napoleon was returned to the British by the Vatican. Now she is in the museum of Pia-Clement (Vatican).

The right hand of Laocoon was found in 1905 by the Czech archaeologist Ludwig Pollack in the shop of the Roman stonemason and transferred it to the Vatican Museum. In 1957, it was inserted into a sculptural composition (information taken from an article in English Digital Sculpture Project: Laocoön).

Several copies have been made from it. Italian - on the island of Rhodes and in the Uffizi Gallery, Moscow - in the Pushkin Museum. Pushkin, Odessa - in front of the museum of archeology.

"Laocoon", sculpture: description

If we proceed from the thesis of G. E. Lessing that painting and sculpture are mute poetry, then the spectator of his own fantasies is told to finish what the author did not directly say.

The figure of Laocoon is most attracting attention because it is located in the center, and also because the authors carefully worked out every muscle of his powerful body. The Trojan is struggling with two huge snakes. The forces are already leaving him, and he begins to sink to the altar. He is still trying to support himself. The left leg rests its fingers on the ground. The right leg is bent and touches the altar. The left hand tries in vain to remove the head of the snake from the body. She is ready to inflict a deadly bite, her mouth is already open and her deadly teeth are visible. The right hand of Laocoon is curved and braided by the rings of the same snake. His head is turned back. The mouth opened in a grimace of pain and horror from the imminent death of his sons, from a tense struggle and the realization of his own imminent death.

So it looks like the soothsayer Laocoon. Sculpture, the description of which continues, causes bitter forebodings of the inevitable death of Laocoon and his sons.

To his right, the youngest son completely encircles the serpent. He raised his trembling right arm, but the snake had already bitten him in the armpit. The young man begins to fall, going to the altar, where his father is.

We continue to consider the sculptural composition "Laocoon with sons." The description of the sculpture is finished.

The elder brother to his father's left turns to him with a face full of horror, with a mute request to release him from the tail of the snake bent by his foot.

He himself can not cope with it with one hand. The viewer, however, seems to have a hope of being alive, which, unfortunately, is not true. They will all die.

I want to complete the description with two quotations. Euripides: "Nothing so pleases the gods as a kind of human suffering." It is also good to describe the Greek gods Sophocles: "The gods are more willing to help a man when he comes to meet his death."

Interest of the Roman emperors to this sculpture

The Roman Imperial House considered itself to be the descendants of the Trojans. It was their hero Enei, the son of the goddess Venus, who fled to the banks of the Tiber. He married Lavinia and founded a city in her honor (Practice de Mare). His brother Askania founded Alba-Longo (now Castel Gandolfo). In this place, in a few generations, the founders of Rome, Romulus and Remus will be born. The Roman emperors boasted that they are descended from the gods.

Viewers' comments

Spectators believe that Lessing is right that in depicting the intense pain experienced by Laocoon, the sculpture should be subordinated to the laws of beauty. Laocoon does not cry, but only moans. Athena sent him an unjust punishment. He is guilty only in that he warned his fellow citizens of the dangerous gift of the Danians, whom Athena patronized. Man - just a helpless toy in the hands of the gods.