As Laocoön, a priest of Neptune, (or according to some, of Apollo) was
sacrificing a bull to Neptune, on the shore at Troy, after the pretended
retreat of the Greeks, two enormous serpents appeared swimming from the
island of Tenedos, and advanced towards the altar. The people fled; but
Laocoön and his two sons fell victims to the monsters. The sons were
first attacked, and then the father, who attempted to defend them, the
serpents coiling themselves about him and his sons, while in his agony
he endeavored to extricate them. They then hastened to the temple of
Pallas, where, placing themselves at the foot of the goddess, they hid
themselves under her shield. The people saw in this omen, Laocoön's
punishment for his impiety in having pierced with his spear, the wooden
horse which was consecrated to Minerva. Thus Virgil relates the story in
the Æneid; others, as Hyginus, give different accounts, though agreeing
in the main points. The fable is chiefly interesting to us, as having
given rise to one of the finest and most celebrated works of antique
sculpture, namely, the Laocoön, now in the Vatican. It was discovered in
1506 by some workmen, while employed in making excavations in a vineyard
on the site of the Baths of Titus. Pope Julius II. bought it for an
annual pension, and placed it in the Belvidere in the Vatican. It was
taken to Paris by Napoleon, but was restored to its place in 1815. It is
perfect in preservation, except that the right arm of Laocoön was
wanting, which was restored by Baccio Bandinelli. This group is so
perfect a work, so grand and so instructive for the student of the fine
arts, that many writers of all nations have written on it. It represents
three persons in agony, but in different attitudes of struggling or
fear, according to their ages, and the mental anguish of the father. All
connoisseurs declare the group perfect, the product of the most thorough
knowledge of anatomy, of character, and of ideal perfection. According
to Pliny, it was the common opinion in his time, that the group was made
of one stone by three sculptors, Agesander, Polydorus, and Athenadorus,
all three natives of Rhodes, and the two last probably sons of the
former. He says, "The Laocoön, which is in the palace of the Emperor
Titus, is a work to be preferred to all others, either in painting or
sculpture. Those great artists, Agesander, Polydorus, and Athenadorus,
Rhodians, executed the principal figure, the sons, and the wonderful
folds of the serpents, out of one piece of marble." Doubts exist
respecting the era of this work. Maffei places it in the 88th Olympiad,
or the first year of the Peloponnesian War; Winckelmann, in the time of
Lysippus and Alexander; and Lessing, in the time of the first Emperors.
Some doubt whether this is the work mentioned by Pliny, because it has
been discovered that the group was not executed out of one block of
marble, as asserted by him. In the opinion of many judicious critics,
however, it is considered an original group, and not a copy, for no copy
would possess its perfections; and that it is certainly the one
described by Pliny, because, after his time, no known sculptor was
capable of executing such a perfect work; and had there been one, his
fame would certainly have reached us. It was found in the place
mentioned by Pliny, and the joinings are so accurate and artfully
concealed, that they might easily escape his notice. There are several
copies of this matchless production by modern sculptors, the most
remarkable of which, are one in bronze by Sansovino, and another in
marble by Baccio Bandinelli, which last is in the Medici gallery at
Florence. It has also been frequently engraved; the best is the famous
plate by Bervic, engraved for the Musée Francais, pronounced by
connoisseurs, the finest representation of a marble group ever executed,
proof impressions of which have been sold for 30 guineas each.