What is Apollo doing in the statue?

Apollo has just shot an arrow, likely at the serpent Python. His bow (now missing) would have been in his left hand. The pose captures the moment after release.

Why was the Apollo Belvedere so influential?

For centuries it was considered the supreme achievement of classical sculpture. Artists from Michelangelo to Canova studied it. The statue defined Western ideals of male beauty.

Is the Apollo Belvedere Greek or Roman?

The Vatican statue is a Roman marble copy from the 2nd century CE. The original was a Greek bronze, likely by Leochares, from around 350-325 BCE.

Where Is Apollo Belvedere? See It at Vatican Museums

Ancient Roman The Apollo Belvedere shows the god Apollo having just released an arrow, likely at the serpent Python. This marble sculpture, a Roman copy of a Greek bronze from around 350-325 BCE, epitomized classical beauty for centuries. Its discovery in the late 15th century influenced Renaissance ideals of the male form.

Apollo strides forward, his cloak draped over his outstretched left arm. His idealized features and perfect proportions made the statue a benchmark for artistic beauty. Winckelmann called it "the highest ideal of art among all the works of antiquity." Later critics found it too smooth and polished. The sculpture stands in the Vatican Museums' Belvedere Courtyard, which takes its name from this famous work.

Apollo Belvedere

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The Artist

More by Ancient Roman (Unknown)

Artemis of Versailles

Porphyry support for a water basin

Relief Fragments Depicting a Seated Woman and a Griffin

Farnese Atlas

Also at Vatican Museums

The Liberation of Saint Peter

The Parnassus

The Entombment of Christ

Sistine Chapel Ceiling

About Apollo Belvedere

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