Apollo Belvedere

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.