“Laocoon! thou great embodiment
Of human life and human history!
Thou record of the past, thou prophecy
Of the sad future, thou majestic voice,
Pealing along the ages from old time!
Thou wail of agonized humanity!
There lives no thought in marble like to thee!
Thou hast no kindred in the Vatican,
But standest separate among the dreams
Of old mythologies--alone--alone!”
--_J. G. Holland._
This group is wonderful as a work of sculpture and one of the most
celebrated pieces in existence. It was found in the excavations of the
Baths of Titus, Rome, in 1506, and was at once placed in the Belvedere
of the Vatican, where it has ever since remained. The period of the
statue is not definitely known.
The right arm of the father has been incorrectly restored. It is
thought that it was originally bent in such a way that the hand was
near the back of the head as then the general outline of the group
would be pyramidal, and the summit of the pyramid would be the father’s
head.
The three figures represent three acts of the tragedy. The eldest son
is still unhurt, and if we did not know the story we might think his
escape possible.
In the father is seen the highest tension of forces to free himself
from the coils of the serpents. The straining muscles, the expanded
chest and head thrown upward and backward, show his terrible effort.
The struggles of the younger son are weak and pitiable, showing that
resistance is at an end.
The expression of physical and emotional pain in this statue is so
materialistic as to be repulsive to sensitive natures. The scene is
literally too sensational for sculpture. “Its pathology overpowers its
pathos.”
[Illustration]
Venus.
“Goddess of Love and Beauty.”
“_Look, look, why shine
Those floating bubbles with such light divine?
They break, and from their mist a lily form
Rises from out the wave in beauty warm._”
--SHELLEY.