Laocoon and His Sons
The artist
Three sculptors from the island of Rhodes: Agesander, Athenodoros, and Polydorus.
What you see
A dramatic scene from an old Greek story showing a father and his two sons caught in a mighty struggle with giant sea serpents that twist around them.
The story
Carved around 40 to 30 BC, it tells a tale about the priest Laocoon of Troy and a moment of destiny in the famous legend of the Trojan War.
The style
It is carved from marble in the intense Hellenistic style, full of straining muscles and swirling coils that make the whole scene burst with energy.
Look closer
Look at the faces and the reaching hands, which show the sculptors trying to capture deep feeling and effort in solid stone.
Where to see it
It is displayed in the Vatican Museums in Rome, Italy, one of the great treasures of ancient art there.
Fun fact
It was dug up in a vineyard in Rome in 1506, and the artist Michelangelo rushed to see it the very same day.