Head of Laocoon

Andrea Appianiabout 1790

Details

Title: Head of Laocoon
Creator Lifespan: 1754 - 1817
Creator Nationality: Italian
Creator Gender: Male
Date Created: about 1790
Type: painting
Rights: The Orville A. and Elma D. Wilkinson Fund
External Link: http://www.imamuseum.org/mercury/load-artwork/182
Medium: oil on canvas
wall label: Appiani_s sketch is a study after the famous Hellenistic sculpture showing Laoco”n and his two sons attacked by serpents. Appiani could have had seen the sculpture in the antiquities collection in the Vatican during a visit he made to Rome in 1790. It appears that Appiani never completed a painting on this subject, and this study therefore may have been an independent exercise that concentrated on depicting the tortured expression of the Trojan priest at the center of the ancient sculpture group. This type of expression study after either nature or antique models was promoted in traditional academies of art, including the Milanese academy where Appiani studied.
measurements: 17 7/8 x 14 in.
Artist: Appiani, Andrea I

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