The sculpture "Laocoon and His Sons" is a recognized masterpiece of ancient art. The sculptors of Agesander, Athenodorus and Polydorus are considered the authors of the marble sculpture. But not everyone shares this point of view.
Laocoon was a priest of Apollo who tried to dissuade the Trojans from the idea of dragging into the city a giant wooden horse left on the shore by the retreating Greeks. Apollo, who supported the Greeks in this war, punished his obstinate priest by sending two giant snakes on him, which killed Laocoon along with his sons Antiphantes and Fimbrey.
The tragic plot attracted the attention of ancient sculptors. In the III century BC. e. Pergamon sculptors cast a bronze statue depicting the death of Laocoon and his sons.
The existence of bronze and marble sculptures was known thanks to the detailed description of Pliny the Elder. Both statues were considered lost, until by chance one of them, a marble one, was discovered in Rome.
It happened in 1506. The sculpture was hidden in an underground cave on the Esquiline Hill. Upon learning of the find, Pope Julius II immediately sent confidants to inspect the famous ancient masterpiece. The experts were the Florentine architect Giuliano da Sangallo and the Italian sculptor and artist Michelangelo Buonarroti. They confirmed the authenticity of the statue, however, Michelangelo noted that the sculpture was made of two pieces of marble, while Pliny the Elder claimed that it was monolithic.
The sculpture is currently in the Pio Clementino Museum in the Vatican. Not so long ago, in 2005, art historian from Columbia University Dr. Lynn Katerson made a sensational suggestion that Laocoon with a high probability may not be the original, but a fake. She drew the experts' attention to the excellent preservation of the marble, which is more than one and a half thousand years old, and also reminded that the sculpture does not correspond to Pliny's description.
At the time of the discovery of "Laocoon" Michelangelo was at the zenith of fame and it is not very clear why he needed to play the Pope and other connoisseurs of antiquities. However, the character of the genius sculptor was obstinate and he could well arrange a rally for the pleasure of fooling the mighty of this world.
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