Laocoön and His Sons - Rhodes, Greece - Philatelic Photographs on Waymarking.com

The sculpture of Laocoön and His Sons is one of the most famous ancient sculptures ever excavated. It was found in Rome in 1506 and placed on public display in the Vatican where you can find it today. An exact replica is located on the second level of the Grand Masters' Palace in Rhodes, Greece.

It is not known for certain whether it is an original Roman marble sculpture or a copy of an earlier Greek bronze sculpture. It is believed that its three sculptors, Hagesander, Athenodoros and Polydorus, were highly-skilled copyists, specialized in producing replicas of original Greek figures for wealthy Roman customers. It is probable that the version in the Vatican is a copy of a Hellenistic Greek bronze sculpture.

The history of the sculpture: Link

The story of Laocoön and His Sons comes from the Greek Epic Cycle on the Trojan Wars. It had been the subject of a tragedy by Sophocles and mentioned by other Greek writers. The sculpture depicts Laocoön, a Trojan priest, and his sons Antiphantes and Thymbraeus being attacked by sea serpents.

The sculpture is based on the lost story by Sophocles and later by Virgil in the Aeneid. According to Sophocles, Laocoön he was a priest of Apollo, who should have been celibate but had married and had two sons. The serpents killed only the two sons, leaving Laocoön himself alive to suffer. According to the story by Virgil in the Aeneid, Laocoön was a priest of Poseidon who was killed by a serpent along with both his sons after attempting to expose the ruse of the Trojan Horse.

Since its discovery in 1506, many copies have been made of the Laocoön and His Sons. Bronze versions are located in the Uffizi Gallery, Florence,and the Louvre in Paris. Marble copies are found in Grand Masters' Palace in Rhodes, and at the Archeological Museum of Odessa.