Reflection of Laocoon and Sons Sculpture Group on Painting Art

The Laocoon Sculpture group was found on the Esquiline Hill in Rome in 1506. It is estimated that the statue was made by three sculptors from Rhodes; Agesandoros, Athenodoros and Polydoros in the 1st century BC. The 242 cm high sculpture group of Laokoon and his sons Antiphantes and Thymbraeus is an important example of Hellenistic sculpture, especially that of Rhodes. Today it is exhibited in the Vatican Museums in the courtyard called Cortile Ottagono. The work is depicted in a triangular composition, characteristic of the Hellenistic period, with the priest Laokoon in the centre, struggling to save himself and his sons from the wrath of snakes. In the work, features such as the mixed and bushy hair and beard of the priest Laokoon, the muscular body textures of the figures and even the veins, the pathetic expression on the faces, and the disconnection from the ground reflect the baroque style of the Hellenistic period, Pergamon and Rhodes sculpture.

The Legend of Laokoon the Priest: Laokoon, the son of Antenor of Troy, was a priest in the temple of Apollo of Thymbra. But he sinned by having intercourse with his wife in front of the statue of the god and attracted the anger of Apollo. He had two sons. Laokoon, who is not mentioned in the Iliad, is the hero of a terrible adventure related to the destruction of Troy in Vergilius' epic "Aeneis".

When the Achaeans hid behind the island of Tenedos, leaving the loaded wooden horse in front of the gates of Troy, the Trojans entrusted Laokoon with the task of making eleven sacrifices in thanksgiving to Poseidon. Laokoon was about to sacrifice a huge bull to the sea god when two snakes of extraordinary size emerged from the waves and attacked Laokoon's two sons who were helping their father. Laokoon intervenes and tries to save his sons, but this time the snakes take him in their throats and kill all three of them in a gruesome manner. After watching this scene with horror, the Trojans, not knowing Laokoon's sin against Apollo, interpreted it as follows: The priest of Apollo had objected to the wooden statue left in front of the gate being taken into the city, and he had struck the horse's belly with his pike and concluded that it was hollow.

The statue depicts the helplessness of man in the face of the cruelty of the gods; Laokoon and his sons are helpless and submit to mortality. This subject and composition emerged as a legend at the end of the Bronze Age, and then appeared in the works of sculpture in the Hellenistic and Roman periods, in literary works in the Roman period, in the art of painting in the Renaissance, again in literary works in the 18th century, and again in the art of painting and sculpture until modern times.

18th century German thinker G.E. Lessing analyses sculpture in his book "Laocoon" and argues that visual arts are superior to literature. According to Lessing, visual art, with its mimesis images reflecting nature in a moment of timelessness, is different and superior to verbal art. Verbal art, such as literature, does not show time in the integrity of a moment like painting and sculpture. Literature is a narrative that progresses with linear or spiralling movement, while visual arts, such as sculpture, reflect only a moment of movement in order to give the unity of space-time in its entirety. While the image of the visual emulates the beauty of the silent and static moment, the image of the spoken word proceeds in possibility with sound, word and connotation. Lessing says that the visual arts are aesthetic because they reflect the beauty and ugliness of the moment and its totality, including death, and he thinks that the Laokoon sculpture is a good example of this. According to him, at first glance, the Laokoon sculpture reflects its spiritual energy to the viewer. Laokoon is self-controlled and does not shout even when he is in pain, he is ascetic. According to Lessing, the reason why Laoquoon does not cry out in such pain stems from the understanding of beauty in Hellenic art, because Hellenic sculptors wanted to make the moment that resists pain in pain, not the pain, permanent in sculpture, to carry it to the plane of thought and monumentalise it.

When the statue of Laokoon was found, some parts of the work were missing and Michelangelo participated in the restoration works. Michelangelo, in the restoration works, brings the pathetic elements of the sculpture to the background and ensures that it is restored in the monumental gesture of the heroic pose befitting the Greco-Roman culture. Thus, in the restoration of missing limbs, monumentality is emphasised as it is seen today. It is possible to see that Michelangelo was influenced by Hellenistic sculpture, especially the Pergamon school. This influence was felt in The Dying Slave and other works (1516).

The myth of Laokoon is at the same time the story of the cruel and insensitive actions of the gods towards mortal man, a common theme in Greek myths. The sculpture crystallises the pathetic element between the past and the modern world that has not yet been overcome. Living the fate of the father... In ancient times, man carried the fate reflected from his father, just like today. Despite the many things that the modern world has made accessible, man is still at the point of accepting or rejecting the destiny, the life that his father offers or assigns to him.

National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC

The legend of Laocoon also influenced Renaissance painting. It is an impressive baroque representation with an original sense of design, painted between 1610 and 1614 by the Greek-born painter Domenikos Theotokópoulos, known as El Greco.

Francesco Hayez  1812 Accademia di Brera, Milan

The legend of the priest Laokoon also influenced the Italian painter Francesco Hayez, one of the representatives of the romanticism movement.

Titian Tiziano Vecellio 1488/1490 - 1576

The statue of Laokoon, which influenced Renaissance and baroque painters, also influenced the Italian painter Tiziano Vecellio, known as Titian. In the early 17th century, critics thought that Titian painted this drawing to mock the contemporary pagans of the ancient statue. Another controversy about this caricature is that Titian painted it as a comment on contemporary debates about the similarities between ape and human anatomy.

Pieter Claesz Soutman 17th century

Oil painting by Pieter Claesz Soutman, Dutch Golden Age painter (1585-1702)

Alessandro Allori 1535-1607

Alessandro di Cristofano di Lorenzo del Bronzino Allori, full name, was an Italian portrait painter of the late Mannerist school of Florence. Mannerism (Stylism): It is an art style that emerged between approximately 1520-1580. It was a departure against the competence brought by the Renaissance and pioneered the styles and movements that came after it. Its initiator and most important representative is Michelangelo Bounarotti. The apocalyptic frescoes in the Sistina Chapel were decisive for this style of painting. Now, instead of the ideal image, the artistic quality is searched for, it manifests itself with the deformation of the figures and appears as a step towards original styles.

Alberto Giacometti / Giacmetti House Paris 20th century

The Swiss-born sculptor, painter, Alberto, who belongs to the Paris School, did his art education at the Geneva School of Fine Arts in Switzerland, but did his important works in Paris and made important contributions to the important art movements Surrealism, Expressionism, Cubism and Formalism, which developed here.

Head of Laoccon Andrea Appiani

Italian Neoclassical painter Andrea Appiani was born in Milan in 1754. He is one of the representatives of the neoclassical movement. His father wanted him to pursue a career in medicine, but he enrolled in the private academy of Carlo Maria Giudici (1723-1804). He studied mostly printmaking and learnt to make copies of sculptures. Giulio studied with Anton Raphael Mengs. He later merged with the class of fresco painter Antonio de'Giorgi. He also often visited Martin Knoller's studio and improved his oil painting technique.

Maria Lassnig, Woman Laocoon

A recent work is Maria Lassnig's "Woman Laocoön" from 1976. Throughout her artistic life, the Austrian painter Lassnig focused on creating groundbreaking portraits set against distraction-free backgrounds. They consist of pastel candy colours composed of what can be described as seemingly arbitrary brushstrokes. His works often distort the body. In Woman Laokoon, the left arm is depicted dislocated as an anatomical defect.

Roy Lichtenstein, 1988

Roy Lichtenstein, an American teacher and painter belonging to the "pop art" movement, is famous for using popular advertising and comic book elements in his paintings. He described himself and his work as "as artificial as possible." (1923-1997)

Hernan Bas,  Laocoön's Sons   2003

Hernan Bas is a painter based in Detroit, Michigan. He graduated in 1996 from the New World School of the Arts in Miami. Bas is also known for his depictions of waifs and dandies based on his own experiences and some work with slimfast and paranorma material.

Laocoön Trio  1990

Always fighting against fashion, Michael Spafford has created a unique, monumental style, a synthesis of powerful imagery and brilliant painting. He utilises meticulous study to create psychologically affecting paintings. His vision is a timeless one that carries both an acceptance of life and a deep awareness of death. Spafford's paintings are thought-provoking, provocative, emphasised expressions. Michael Spafford has many works on the theme of Laokoon.

Bibliography;

• Haryy N. Abrams, “ The Vatican Collections: The Papacy and Art ” Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1983.
• Smith, R.R.R, "Hellenistic Sculpture" Homer Kitabevi, 2002.
• Winter, J. Leslie, “ Body, Identity, and Narrative In Titian’s Paintings “ An Undergraduate Thesis, Wittenberg University, 2013
• Kleiner, S. Fred, “ Gardner's Art Through The Ages , A Global History, Volume I “ Cengage Learning, 2009.
• Brilliant, Richard, “ My Laocoon: Alternative Claims in the Interpretation of Artworks “University of California Press, 2000.
• https://michaelspafford.com
• https://paintingvalley.com/laocoon-painting