The Apollino or Medici Apollo is a Roman copy of a Hellenistic sculpture of the adolescent god

Apollo Apollo, grc, Ἀπόλλωνος, Apóllōnos, label=genitive , ; , grc-dor, Ἀπέλλων, Apéllōn, ; grc, Ἀπείλων, Apeílōn, label=Arcadocypriot Greek, ; grc-aeo, Ἄπλουν, Áploun, la, Apollō, la, Apollinis, label= ...

of the

Apollo Lykeios The Apollo Lyceus ( el, Ἀπόλλων Λύκειος, ''Apollōn Lukeios'') type, also known as Lycean Apollo, originating with Praxiteles and known from many full-size statue and figurine copies as well as from 1st century BCE Athenian coinage ...

type. It is now in the

Uffizi The Uffizi Gallery (; it, Galleria degli Uffizi, italic=no, ) is a prominent art museum located adjacent to the Piazza della Signoria in the Historic Centre of Florence in the region of Tuscany, Italy. One of the most important Italian museums ...

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...

. Its head has proportions similar to those of

Praxiteles Praxiteles (; el, Πραξιτέλης) of Athens, the son of Cephisodotus the Elder, was the most renowned of the Attica sculptors of the 4th century BC. He was the first to sculpt the nude female form in a life-size statue. While no indubita ...

Aphrodite of Cnidus The Aphrodite of Knidos (or Cnidus) was an Ancient Greek sculpture of the goddess Aphrodite created by Praxiteles of Athens around the 4th century BC. It is one of the first life-sized representations of the nude female form in Greek history, di ...

, and thus it has been argued to be a copy of a Praxitelean original, or at least to be Praxitelean in style. Others argue it is an eclectic creation from the Roman era, mixing several styles from the "

second classicism Classicism, in the arts, refers generally to a high regard for a classical period, classical antiquity in the Western tradition, as setting standards for taste which the classicists seek to emulate. In its purest form, classicism is an aestheti ...

". Its left arm may have held a bow. Found complete in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

in the 17th century, though its exact early provenance is obscure, it was originally in the Borghese collection, until it was moved to the Medici collection at

Villa Medici The Villa Medici () is a Mannerist villa and an architectural complex with a garden contiguous with the larger Borghese gardens, on the Pincian Hill next to Trinità dei Monti in Rome, Italy. The Villa Medici, founded by Ferdinando I de' Medici, ...

, where it was recorded in 1704. Unlike many ancient sculptures in the Medici collection, it was not moved to Florence by

Cosimo III de' Medici Cosimo III de' Medici (14 August 1642 – 31 October 1723) was Grand Duke of Tuscany from 1670 until his death in 1723, the sixth and penultimate from the House of Medici. He reigned from 1670 to 1723, and was the elder son of Grand Duke Ferdinan ...

, remaining in Rome until it was removed to accompany the Medici Niobe Group in 1769–70. Though it has since declined in reputation, it retained its praise through the 18th century, as one of the most copied Roman sculptures. It was seen in the Tribuna of the Uffizi by the English poet

Percy Bysshe Shelley Percy Bysshe Shelley ( ; 4 August 17928 July 1822) was one of the major English Romantic poets. A radical in his poetry as well as in his political and social views, Shelley did not achieve fame during his lifetime, but recognition of his achie ...

, who commented: In 1840 at the Uffizi it was broken by a painting falling on it and was restored by

Lorenzo Bartolini Lorenzo Bartolini (Prato, 7 January 1777 Florence, 20 January 1850) was an Italian sculptor who infused his neoclassicism with a strain of sentimental piety and naturalistic detail, while he drew inspiration from the sculpture of the Florentine ...

, who covered the whole statue with a layer of paint to disguise the repairs. In addition to many 17th and 18th century copies, the French sculptor

Jean-Baptiste Vietty Jean-Baptiste Vietty, (14 December 1787 - 1842) was a French sculptor and archaeologist. Born at Amplepuis in the Rhône (department), département of the Rhône, the son of a decorative plasterworker of Italian origin, Vietty worked in the ate ...

made a copy of the ''Apollino'' that is conserved in the Musée des Beaux-Arts of Lyon. There is also an " Apollino Milani" in Florence's National Archaeological Museum and one carved by Niccolò Bazzanti of the

Pietro Bazzanti e Figlio Art Gallery The "workshop" of Pietro Bazzanti and Son is an historic landmark in Florence, art and culture heritage of the city. It took part in the role of "Fine Arts Trader" at the National Exposition of 1861 in Florence with several marble sculptures and ...

of Florence at Museo Civico Revoltella,

Trieste Trieste ( , ; sl, Trst ; german: Triest ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital city, and largest city, of the autonomous region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, one of two autonomous regions which are not subdivided into provi ...

Bibliography and external links

JSTOR: That 'Most Rare Master Monsii Le Gros' and His 'Marsyas'JSTOR: Greek Sculpture and Roman Copies I: Anton Raphael Mengs and the Eighteenth CenturyCast
!---Photo still in copyright - someone please create a Free Use equivalent---> {{coord missing, Italy Classical sculptures in the Uffizi Sculptures of Apollo Roman copies of Greek sculptures Archaeological discoveries in Italy Nude sculptures