Praxiteles - Apollo the Python-Slayer - 2004

''Apollo Sauroktonos'' (

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 ...

Lizard-killer) is the title of several 1st - 2nd century AD Roman marble copies of an original by the ancient Greek sculptor

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 ...

. The statues depict a nude adolescent

about to catch a lizard climbing up a tree. Copies are included in the collections of the

Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...

Museum, the

Vatican Museums The Vatican Museums ( it, Musei Vaticani; la, Musea Vaticana) are the public museums of the Vatican City. They display works from the immense collection amassed by the Catholic Church and the papacy throughout the centuries, including several of ...

, and the

National Museums Liverpool National Museums Liverpool, formerly National Museums and Galleries on Merseyside, comprises several museums and art galleries in and around Liverpool, England. All the museums and galleries in the group have free admission. The museum is a non ...

Original

The bronze original of this sculpture is attributed by

Pliny Pliny may refer to: People * Pliny the Elder (23–79 CE), ancient Roman nobleman, scientist, historian, and author of ''Naturalis Historia'' (''Pliny's Natural History'') * Pliny the Younger (died 113), ancient Roman statesman, orator, w ...

(XXXIV, 69-70) to the Athenian sculptor

and is usually dated to c.350-340 BC. Martial wrote an epigram about the statue (14, 172): "Spare the lizard, treacherous boy, creeping toward you; it desires to perish by your hands." The

Cleveland Museum of Art The Cleveland Museum of Art (CMA) is an art museum in Cleveland, Ohio, located in the Wade Park District, in the University Circle neighborhood on the city's east side. Internationally renowned for its substantial holdings of Asian and Egyptian ...

claims to own a bronze original (or part-original) of this work. The work is currently being analyzed to verify this claim by scholars and archaeologists.

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...

has raised questions about ownership and title.

Copies

About forty copies of the Apollo Sauroctonos are known to exist. It is also depicted on Roman gems and coins. A marble copy of the Apollo Sauroctonos is in the collection of the Louvre, with the catalogue number MR 78 (n° usuel Ma 441). It is high, and the left arm, the right hand and the lizard's head are modern restorations. Formerly in the Borghese collection, it was bought by Napoleon in 1807.

Iconography

The statue depicts Apollo as a youth, unusually for classical artwork which normally did not portray gods other than Dionysius and Eros as children or adolescents. Martin Robertson has suggested that the statue alludes to the myth of Apollo slaying the serpent

Python Python may refer to: Snakes * Pythonidae, a family of nonvenomous snakes found in Africa, Asia, and Australia ** ''Python'' (genus), a genus of Pythonidae found in Africa and Asia * Python (mythology), a mythical serpent Computing * Python (pro ...

. Jennifer Neils disputes this, noting that Python is depicted elsewhere in Greek art as a giant snake, and there is no reason to believe that ancient audiences would have associated the small lizard depicted on the Apollo Sauroctonos with Python.

Notes

External links

Louvre cataloguePerseus entry
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sauroctonos, Apollo Ancient Greek and Roman sculptures of the Louvre Antiquities acquired by Napoleon Borghese antiquities Sauroctonos Lizards in art Roman copies of 4th-century BC Greek sculptures Sculptures by Praxiteles