Roman Sculpture
Except otherwise stated, all results include the premium.
See also : Ancient sculpture
Chronology : 600 BCE - CE 1-1000
See also : Ancient sculpture
Chronology : 600 BCE - CE 1-1000
Special Report
Roman Copies of Greek Sculptures
Roman copies of Greek sculptures form a vital chapter in art history, preserving the legacy of Greek masterpieces—especially bronze originals—that have largely vanished. After Rome conquered Greece (notably after the Battle of Corinth in 146 BCE), Roman elites developed an intense admiration for Greek culture, art, and philosophy. This "Hellenization" led to a massive demand for Greek-style works to adorn villas, public baths, theaters, gardens, and imperial residences across the empire.
Many famous Greek statues, primarily bronze works from the Classical (5th–4th century BCE) and Hellenistic (4th–1st century BCE) periods by masters like Polykleitos, Praxiteles, Myron, Lysippos, and others, were lost—melted down for metal during wars, invasions, or economic crises. Roman artisans responded by producing marble copies (and sometimes bronze replicas) using advanced techniques: molds taken from originals created plaster casts, which served as models. Solid point-measured casts guided precise marble reproductions, while hollow casts enabled bronze versions. Marble copies often included added supports (tree trunks, struts, or figures) because marble lacks bronze's tensile strength and flexibility.
These Roman versions were not mere fakes but prestige items—status symbols for wealthy patrons showcasing cultural sophistication. Some were exact replicas, others adapted (e.g., combining elements from multiple Greek prototypes, adding portrait heads of Romans, or altering poses for Roman tastes). By the 2nd century CE (especially under philhellenic emperors like Hadrian), the production peaked, with workshops across the empire churning out thousands of copies.
Key characteristics distinguishing many Roman copies:
Many famous Greek statues, primarily bronze works from the Classical (5th–4th century BCE) and Hellenistic (4th–1st century BCE) periods by masters like Polykleitos, Praxiteles, Myron, Lysippos, and others, were lost—melted down for metal during wars, invasions, or economic crises. Roman artisans responded by producing marble copies (and sometimes bronze replicas) using advanced techniques: molds taken from originals created plaster casts, which served as models. Solid point-measured casts guided precise marble reproductions, while hollow casts enabled bronze versions. Marble copies often included added supports (tree trunks, struts, or figures) because marble lacks bronze's tensile strength and flexibility.
These Roman versions were not mere fakes but prestige items—status symbols for wealthy patrons showcasing cultural sophistication. Some were exact replicas, others adapted (e.g., combining elements from multiple Greek prototypes, adding portrait heads of Romans, or altering poses for Roman tastes). By the 2nd century CE (especially under philhellenic emperors like Hadrian), the production peaked, with workshops across the empire churning out thousands of copies.
Key characteristics distinguishing many Roman copies:
- Marble medium (vs. Greek bronze preference).
- Added supports/struts.
- Subtle stylistic tweaks (e.g., more polished surfaces or imperial-era details).
- Often unsigned, as copyists were lower-status craftsmen.
- Apollo Belvedere — Roman marble copy (mid-2nd century CE) of a late Classical Greek bronze by Leochares (ca. 330–320 BCE), embodying ideal masculine beauty and poise.
- Laocoön and His Sons — Likely a 1st-century BCE Roman marble version (or adaptation) of a Hellenistic bronze group by Agesander, Athenodorus, and Polydorus of Rhodes, famous for its dramatic pathos.
- Venus de Milo (Aphrodite of Melos) — Hellenistic original (ca. 130–100 BCE) by Alexandros of Antioch, but many similar Aphrodite/Venus types exist in Roman copies.
- Winged Victory of Samothrace — Hellenistic original (ca. 200–190 BCE), with Roman-era echoes in similar dynamic figures.
- Other classics known mainly via copies: Doryphoros (Spear-Bearer) by Polykleitos (via copies like the one influencing Augustus of Prima Porta), Discobolus (Discus Thrower) by Myron, Hermes and the Infant Dionysus (often linked to Praxiteles), and countless athletes, gods, and mythological scenes.
BCE Roman Funerary Marble
2018 SOLD for £ 4.2M by Sotheby's
A Roman funerary marble showing a life-size man was sold by Sotheby's for $ 2.06M on June 7, 2007 and for £ 4.2M on December 4, 2018, lot 39.
The old man is dressed in a pallium, a drapery which is lighter than a toga and completely uncovering the naked torso. He is sitting on a cushion. This 115 cm high statue has lost one arm and both feet and the nose is broken. The right shoulder has been restored.
His attitude is stiff and the facial expression is austere. The legs are apart in a proud position that evokes the figures of Jupiter on his throne and some early imperial portraits. It was thus probably created at the beginning of Augustus' reign in the latest years BCE. At that time the pallium was the usual mantle of the Romans.
The folding of the pallium is simple, without the social emblems that we would expect from the funerary statue of an aristocrat. He displays a scroll in his hand, meaning that he is a poet.
The statue was created in two parts attached at the hips, reserving a hollow for the ashes.
The old man is dressed in a pallium, a drapery which is lighter than a toga and completely uncovering the naked torso. He is sitting on a cushion. This 115 cm high statue has lost one arm and both feet and the nose is broken. The right shoulder has been restored.
His attitude is stiff and the facial expression is austere. The legs are apart in a proud position that evokes the figures of Jupiter on his throne and some early imperial portraits. It was thus probably created at the beginning of Augustus' reign in the latest years BCE. At that time the pallium was the usual mantle of the Romans.
The folding of the pallium is simple, without the social emblems that we would expect from the funerary statue of an aristocrat. He displays a scroll in his hand, meaning that he is a poet.
The statue was created in two parts attached at the hips, reserving a hollow for the ashes.
This rare, life-size statue of a Roman poet dates to the early years of the Empire, and will go on view in our London galleries this weekend. Uncover more about the mysterious funerary portrait here: https://t.co/Dq7mPE0bJV #SothebysAncient pic.twitter.com/DydL8SYlgO
— Sotheby's (@Sothebys) November 29, 2018
This commanding life-size sculpture of a Roman poet dates to the 1st century A.D., and will be presiding over our London galleries until Tuesday afternoon ? Full details here: https://t.co/MEvvv87qD6 #SothebysAncient pic.twitter.com/m1Y9yR1FcN
— Sotheby's (@Sothebys) December 3, 2018
Artemis and the Stag
2007 SOLD for $ 28.6 M by Sotheby's
Artemis and the stag, which could also have been named Diana and the fawn, is a bronze group of Hellenistic inspiration without equivalent for its state of conservation and the delicacy of its carving. It is 124 cm high overall including the base which is original. As always with the ancient bronze groups, this statue is made up of elements assembled by joints.
This statue was found by chance in Rome around 1930 on a construction site near St John Lateran. It had probably decorated a private hall or garden during the transition period between the Republic and the Empire.
Some of its iconographic details are of the greatest rarity. The goddess is adolescent. The gesture of the arm shows that she has just sent away an arrow with a bow that is missing. The deer at her side is her pet, peacefully standing on its four legs. It is small, 43 cm high compared to the 92 cm of the goddess. On the other side of Artemis, there was some place for another animal, perhaps a hound.
This bronze was in permanent exhibition at the Albright-Knox Gallery in Buffalo, which deaccessioned it to refocus on modern art. It thus shares with the Guennol lioness the characteristic of having been much loved by the public for many years before its auction.
Artemis and the stag was sold for $ 28.6M by Sotheby's on June 7, 2007, lot 41, a record at that time for any sculpture at auction. It was bought at that sale by Giuseppe Eskenazi, acting for a private collector who made a long time loan of it to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The image shared by Wikimedia with attribution Ana Carina Lauriano ╰★╮ / CC BY features this group displayed at the Met.
This statue was found by chance in Rome around 1930 on a construction site near St John Lateran. It had probably decorated a private hall or garden during the transition period between the Republic and the Empire.
Some of its iconographic details are of the greatest rarity. The goddess is adolescent. The gesture of the arm shows that she has just sent away an arrow with a bow that is missing. The deer at her side is her pet, peacefully standing on its four legs. It is small, 43 cm high compared to the 92 cm of the goddess. On the other side of Artemis, there was some place for another animal, perhaps a hound.
This bronze was in permanent exhibition at the Albright-Knox Gallery in Buffalo, which deaccessioned it to refocus on modern art. It thus shares with the Guennol lioness the characteristic of having been much loved by the public for many years before its auction.
Artemis and the stag was sold for $ 28.6M by Sotheby's on June 7, 2007, lot 41, a record at that time for any sculpture at auction. It was bought at that sale by Giuseppe Eskenazi, acting for a private collector who made a long time loan of it to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The image shared by Wikimedia with attribution Ana Carina Lauriano ╰★╮ / CC BY features this group displayed at the Met.
masterpiece
40 BCE Laocoon
Vatican
The image is shared by Wikimedia with attribution Vatican Museums, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
The Laocoön and His Sons (also known as the Laocoön Group or Gruppo del Laocoonte) is one of the most renowned and influential sculptures from antiquity, a dramatic marble group now housed in the Vatican Museums in Rome (Museo Pio-Clementino, Octagonal Court / Cortile Ottagono). Dated to the late Hellenistic or early Imperial Roman period—most scholars favor ca. 40–30 BCE, though debates range from the 2nd century BCE to the 1st century CE—it measures about 208 cm (6 feet 10 inches) in height, with the figures carved from multiple blocks of white marble (likely not a single block as Pliny claimed).
The composition captures the Trojan priest Laocoön (a figure from the Trojan War cycle, brother of Anchises and uncle of Aeneas) and his two young sons, Antiphantes and Thymbraeus, in the throes of death by giant sea serpents. According to Virgil's Aeneid (Book II), Laocoön warned the Trojans against accepting the Greek wooden horse ("Beware of Greeks bearing gifts"), angering Athena (or Poseidon in some versions) who favored the Greeks. The gods sent serpents from the sea to strangle him and his sons as divine punishment, ensuring Troy's fall and Aeneas's flight to found Rome. The sculpture freezes this moment of agony: Laocoön's muscular body arches back in torment, mouth open in a silent scream, one arm raised in futile struggle; the serpents coil tightly around the trio, their scales and fangs rendered with astonishing detail; the sons writhe in despair—one already limp, the other reaching desperately.
The work exemplifies Hellenistic sculpture's emphasis on pathos (emotional intensity), dynamic movement, exaggerated musculature, and theatrical drama—contrasting with Classical restraint. The figures twist in contrapposto extremes, faces contorted in pain yet dignified, drapery minimal to highlight anatomy. Pliny the Elder, in his Natural History (36.37), praised it extravagantly as a work "to be preferred to any other production of the art of painting or of bronze statuary," attributing it to the Rhodian sculptors Agesander (Hagesandros), Athenodorus, and Polydorus (likely a Roman-era marble version or adaptation of a lost Hellenistic bronze original).
Its rediscovery on January 14, 1506 (or February in some accounts), in a vineyard on Rome's Esquiline Hill (near the ancient Domus Aurea and Baths of Trajan) owned by Felice de Fredis, electrified the Renaissance. Workers digging foundations unearthed the nearly complete group (missing the right arm of Laocoön and parts of the sons' arms). Pope Julius II, a passionate antiquarian, dispatched experts—including Michelangelo and architect Giuliano da Sangallo—to verify it matched Pliny's description. Michelangelo reportedly exclaimed in awe upon seeing it. The pope purchased it immediately, and by August 1506, it was installed as the centerpiece of the newly created Belvedere Courtyard (now part of the Vatican Museums), kickstarting the Vatican's collection of antiquities and inspiring generations of artists.
The missing right arm sparked centuries of debate and restoration: Michelangelo advocated a bent, raised arm (contrasting earlier straight-arm proposals); a bronze copy from 1543 showed it straight. In 1906, archaeologist Ludwig Pollak discovered the original bent right arm fragment in a Roman builder's yard; it was donated to the Vatican and fitted in 1957, confirming Michelangelo's intuition and enhancing the sculpture's dramatic tension.
In art history, the Laocoön profoundly shaped Western aesthetics: it influenced Michelangelo's figures (e.g., in the Sistine Chapel), Baroque dynamism (Bernini drew from its pathos), and Enlightenment theories of the sublime and expression (Lessing's Laocoön essay on poetry vs. visual arts limits). It became a benchmark for ideal beauty amid suffering, copied endlessly in casts, engravings, and reductions. As of February 2026, it remains a highlight of the Vatican Museums' Octagonal Court, conserved meticulously, its writhing forms and raw emotion still evoking visceral responses—embodying antiquity's mastery of human anguish, divine retribution, and sculptural virtuosity after over 2,000 years.
The Laocoön and His Sons (also known as the Laocoön Group or Gruppo del Laocoonte) is one of the most renowned and influential sculptures from antiquity, a dramatic marble group now housed in the Vatican Museums in Rome (Museo Pio-Clementino, Octagonal Court / Cortile Ottagono). Dated to the late Hellenistic or early Imperial Roman period—most scholars favor ca. 40–30 BCE, though debates range from the 2nd century BCE to the 1st century CE—it measures about 208 cm (6 feet 10 inches) in height, with the figures carved from multiple blocks of white marble (likely not a single block as Pliny claimed).
The composition captures the Trojan priest Laocoön (a figure from the Trojan War cycle, brother of Anchises and uncle of Aeneas) and his two young sons, Antiphantes and Thymbraeus, in the throes of death by giant sea serpents. According to Virgil's Aeneid (Book II), Laocoön warned the Trojans against accepting the Greek wooden horse ("Beware of Greeks bearing gifts"), angering Athena (or Poseidon in some versions) who favored the Greeks. The gods sent serpents from the sea to strangle him and his sons as divine punishment, ensuring Troy's fall and Aeneas's flight to found Rome. The sculpture freezes this moment of agony: Laocoön's muscular body arches back in torment, mouth open in a silent scream, one arm raised in futile struggle; the serpents coil tightly around the trio, their scales and fangs rendered with astonishing detail; the sons writhe in despair—one already limp, the other reaching desperately.
The work exemplifies Hellenistic sculpture's emphasis on pathos (emotional intensity), dynamic movement, exaggerated musculature, and theatrical drama—contrasting with Classical restraint. The figures twist in contrapposto extremes, faces contorted in pain yet dignified, drapery minimal to highlight anatomy. Pliny the Elder, in his Natural History (36.37), praised it extravagantly as a work "to be preferred to any other production of the art of painting or of bronze statuary," attributing it to the Rhodian sculptors Agesander (Hagesandros), Athenodorus, and Polydorus (likely a Roman-era marble version or adaptation of a lost Hellenistic bronze original).
Its rediscovery on January 14, 1506 (or February in some accounts), in a vineyard on Rome's Esquiline Hill (near the ancient Domus Aurea and Baths of Trajan) owned by Felice de Fredis, electrified the Renaissance. Workers digging foundations unearthed the nearly complete group (missing the right arm of Laocoön and parts of the sons' arms). Pope Julius II, a passionate antiquarian, dispatched experts—including Michelangelo and architect Giuliano da Sangallo—to verify it matched Pliny's description. Michelangelo reportedly exclaimed in awe upon seeing it. The pope purchased it immediately, and by August 1506, it was installed as the centerpiece of the newly created Belvedere Courtyard (now part of the Vatican Museums), kickstarting the Vatican's collection of antiquities and inspiring generations of artists.
The missing right arm sparked centuries of debate and restoration: Michelangelo advocated a bent, raised arm (contrasting earlier straight-arm proposals); a bronze copy from 1543 showed it straight. In 1906, archaeologist Ludwig Pollak discovered the original bent right arm fragment in a Roman builder's yard; it was donated to the Vatican and fitted in 1957, confirming Michelangelo's intuition and enhancing the sculpture's dramatic tension.
In art history, the Laocoön profoundly shaped Western aesthetics: it influenced Michelangelo's figures (e.g., in the Sistine Chapel), Baroque dynamism (Bernini drew from its pathos), and Enlightenment theories of the sublime and expression (Lessing's Laocoön essay on poetry vs. visual arts limits). It became a benchmark for ideal beauty amid suffering, copied endlessly in casts, engravings, and reductions. As of February 2026, it remains a highlight of the Vatican Museums' Octagonal Court, conserved meticulously, its writhing forms and raw emotion still evoking visceral responses—embodying antiquity's mastery of human anguish, divine retribution, and sculptural virtuosity after over 2,000 years.
early 1st century CE - The Syon Aphrodite
2014 SOLD for £ 9.4M by Sotheby's
The wealthy Romans decorated their gardens with replicas of Greek marbles. By comparison, one can identify the most popular models from these Roman times and speculate about the lost originals.
The draped Aphrodite of Munich-Syon-Pozzuoli type is copied from a highly elegant Greek statue made around 420 BCE. An attribution to Alkamenes has been proposed. The Syon Aphrodite was sold by Sotheby's on July 9, 2014 for £ 9.4M from a lower estimate of £ 4M, lot 17.
At 203 cm high, it is larger than life. This specimen, which had lost its forearms, had been admired by Aldrovandi in Rome around 1550 in the garden of the Cardinals Cesi. She was then considered as an Agrippina. It entered in 1773 alongside other monumental marbles in the Great hall of Syon House, the residence of the Dukes of Northumberland, identified as a Livia dressed as Juno.
This Aphrodite was too beautiful, with her oval face, her parted lips and her hair tied in a tiara. It remained in Syon, dismissed by the experts who believed that the head was modern because of a crack along the neck. Some restorations had been made in the 18th century, including the fitting of a pair of forearms. The discovery of its twin sister around 2002 in Pozzuoli finally confirmed the admirable state of conservation of the Aphrodite of Syon. It dates from the Julio-Claudian period, at the beginning of the 1st century CE.
The draped Aphrodite of Munich-Syon-Pozzuoli type is copied from a highly elegant Greek statue made around 420 BCE. An attribution to Alkamenes has been proposed. The Syon Aphrodite was sold by Sotheby's on July 9, 2014 for £ 9.4M from a lower estimate of £ 4M, lot 17.
At 203 cm high, it is larger than life. This specimen, which had lost its forearms, had been admired by Aldrovandi in Rome around 1550 in the garden of the Cardinals Cesi. She was then considered as an Agrippina. It entered in 1773 alongside other monumental marbles in the Great hall of Syon House, the residence of the Dukes of Northumberland, identified as a Livia dressed as Juno.
This Aphrodite was too beautiful, with her oval face, her parted lips and her hair tied in a tiara. It remained in Syon, dismissed by the experts who believed that the head was modern because of a crack along the neck. Some restorations had been made in the 18th century, including the fitting of a pair of forearms. The discovery of its twin sister around 2002 in Pozzuoli finally confirmed the admirable state of conservation of the Aphrodite of Syon. It dates from the Julio-Claudian period, at the beginning of the 1st century CE.
37 CE Bust of Germanicus
2012 SOLD for $ 8.1M by Sotheby's
Portraits of Roman emperors and of their immediate family display an admirable realism. Their role is to promote the image of the man to better enforce the respect to him.
Augustus established a new autocratic regime, thus raising the Emperor's succession as a critical issue. He adopted Tiberius as his successor and then forced Tiberius to adopt Germanicus.
These two potential successive heirs hated one another. Germanicus was young and beautiful. He was also one of the best generals in the history of Rome, and not interested in politics. When dying at the age of 34 in 19 CE, he announced being certain that he had been poisoned.
Some years later, in 790 of Rome matching 37 CE, the very unpopular Tiberius also dies, and his successor is the son of Germanicus : Caligula.
The popularity of the father is a good excuse to promote the son, whose criminal fantasies are not yet predictable. Marble portraits of Germanicus are then reissued from a model made at the time of his glory.
One of these marbles, 52 cm high, was purchased in Rome in 1799 of our calendar for the collection of Lord Elgin. This purchase was regular, unlike the removals of the Parthenon marbles made at the same time by the same Lord abusing his position as ambassador to Constantinople.
This portrait is impressive and in very good condition. The aquiline nose has an almost photographic accuracy, and very long sideburns and somehow rebellious curls attest the fashion of Julio-Claudian hairstyles.
It was sold for $ 8.1M from a lower estimate of $ 3M by Sotheby's in New York on December 6, 2012, lot 30.
Augustus established a new autocratic regime, thus raising the Emperor's succession as a critical issue. He adopted Tiberius as his successor and then forced Tiberius to adopt Germanicus.
These two potential successive heirs hated one another. Germanicus was young and beautiful. He was also one of the best generals in the history of Rome, and not interested in politics. When dying at the age of 34 in 19 CE, he announced being certain that he had been poisoned.
Some years later, in 790 of Rome matching 37 CE, the very unpopular Tiberius also dies, and his successor is the son of Germanicus : Caligula.
The popularity of the father is a good excuse to promote the son, whose criminal fantasies are not yet predictable. Marble portraits of Germanicus are then reissued from a model made at the time of his glory.
One of these marbles, 52 cm high, was purchased in Rome in 1799 of our calendar for the collection of Lord Elgin. This purchase was regular, unlike the removals of the Parthenon marbles made at the same time by the same Lord abusing his position as ambassador to Constantinople.
This portrait is impressive and in very good condition. The aquiline nose has an almost photographic accuracy, and very long sideburns and somehow rebellious curls attest the fashion of Julio-Claudian hairstyles.
It was sold for $ 8.1M from a lower estimate of $ 3M by Sotheby's in New York on December 6, 2012, lot 30.
Putto with the Mask of a Satyr
2013 SOLD for $ 3.5M by Sotheby's
In 1620, Cardinal Ludovisi, later Pope Gregory XV, began the preparation of his Roman villa on a ground that was known as Gardens of Sallust in antiquity. A marble statuette unique of its kind surfaced at that time, certainly during this work.
This statuette from the beginning of the Roman Empire, 60 cm high, shows a naked putto wearing an oversized mask of satyr covering his head and shoulders.
The attitude of the putto is threatening, as also his old bearded head with wide open eyes. Indeed this child is not a putto but a faun with a small tail in the middle of the back. This fantastic juxtaposition of the extreme ages of life on a single individual is fascinating.
This masterpiece of antique surrealism made 2000 years ago has two particularly notable features : a hand coming out of the mouth of the mask, and the well chiselled head of child visible through the eyes of the mask. This monster was acting with a frightened child also known in the Ludovisi collection but lost since a long time.
Upon excavation, the statuette was a sensation. It is known from a drawing and an engraving of the period, and was repaired in 1628 by Alessandro Algardi for a payment of 12 scudi. It was sold for $ 3.5M by Sotheby's on December 12, 2013, lot 43.
This statuette from the beginning of the Roman Empire, 60 cm high, shows a naked putto wearing an oversized mask of satyr covering his head and shoulders.
The attitude of the putto is threatening, as also his old bearded head with wide open eyes. Indeed this child is not a putto but a faun with a small tail in the middle of the back. This fantastic juxtaposition of the extreme ages of life on a single individual is fascinating.
This masterpiece of antique surrealism made 2000 years ago has two particularly notable features : a hand coming out of the mouth of the mask, and the well chiselled head of child visible through the eyes of the mask. This monster was acting with a frightened child also known in the Ludovisi collection but lost since a long time.
Upon excavation, the statuette was a sensation. It is known from a drawing and an engraving of the period, and was repaired in 1628 by Alessandro Algardi for a payment of 12 scudi. It was sold for $ 3.5M by Sotheby's on December 12, 2013, lot 43.
Julio-Claudian Marble Torso
2010 SOLD for $ 7.3M by Sotheby's
On June 11, 2010 Sotheby's sold the torso of a Julio-Claudian emperor for $ 7.3M from a lower estimate of $ 800K, lot 37.
This marble without head and members was 110 cm high, larger than life as it was often the case with the statues of Roman emperors. The interest lay in the very fine carving of the breastplate, with animated and varied figures.
There are some similarities between this lot and another marble torso, 119 cm high, which was sold for $ 2.2M by Christie's on December 9, 2010. it is a half-century later to the Julio-Claudian dynasty, and could represent Trajan. Its decoration is less dense than the example above.
This marble without head and members was 110 cm high, larger than life as it was often the case with the statues of Roman emperors. The interest lay in the very fine carving of the breastplate, with animated and varied figures.
There are some similarities between this lot and another marble torso, 119 cm high, which was sold for $ 2.2M by Christie's on December 9, 2010. it is a half-century later to the Julio-Claudian dynasty, and could represent Trajan. Its decoration is less dense than the example above.
133-138 Bust of Antinous
2010 SOLD for $ 24M by Sotheby's
With Trajan, the Roman Empire reached its greatest territorial extension. By consolidating the fragile borders, Hadrian extended the pax romana for half a century. There was no chronicler during his reign but his journeys have been reasonably retraced.
Around the Mediterranean sea, Hadrian shows himself passionately Philhellene, which is politically clever since it is necessary to avoid the eternal rivalries between the Greek cities. He was in Athens in 129 CE and in Egypt in 130.
A Bithynian about 20 years old, whose physical beauty matched the canon of Dionysus, was part of the emperor's suite. His biography contains no verifiable element : in fact he was more useful dead than alive. His drowning in the Nile reminds the epic legend of Osiris. His name was Antinous. The emperor deified him by imperial decree and multiplied the posthumous honors.
The emperor is powerful and the courtiers are numerous. The iconography of Antinous-Dionysus-Osiris takes on an unprecedented scale, which will cease to be useful after Hadrian's death in 138 CE.
A larger than life marble bust, 84 cm high including the base, was discovered in the 19th century in Banias, on the Golan Heights. It was inscribed in Greek by the dedicatee, belonging to a Roman patrician family : "from M. Lucius Flaccus to the god Antinous". Such a signature is unique in the iconography of Antinous.
In 133 and 134 Hadrian led a very deadly war in the Judaea raised by Bar Kokhba. Banias, romanized as Caesarea Philippi, had a long pagan tradition which justified an ostensible support to the emperor.
The bust is incomplete : the arms are missing, a shoulder is detached and the nose is broken. Despite this condition, it was sold for $ 24M by Sotheby's on December 7, 2010 from a lower estimate of $ 2M, lot 9.
Around the Mediterranean sea, Hadrian shows himself passionately Philhellene, which is politically clever since it is necessary to avoid the eternal rivalries between the Greek cities. He was in Athens in 129 CE and in Egypt in 130.
A Bithynian about 20 years old, whose physical beauty matched the canon of Dionysus, was part of the emperor's suite. His biography contains no verifiable element : in fact he was more useful dead than alive. His drowning in the Nile reminds the epic legend of Osiris. His name was Antinous. The emperor deified him by imperial decree and multiplied the posthumous honors.
The emperor is powerful and the courtiers are numerous. The iconography of Antinous-Dionysus-Osiris takes on an unprecedented scale, which will cease to be useful after Hadrian's death in 138 CE.
A larger than life marble bust, 84 cm high including the base, was discovered in the 19th century in Banias, on the Golan Heights. It was inscribed in Greek by the dedicatee, belonging to a Roman patrician family : "from M. Lucius Flaccus to the god Antinous". Such a signature is unique in the iconography of Antinous.
In 133 and 134 Hadrian led a very deadly war in the Judaea raised by Bar Kokhba. Banias, romanized as Caesarea Philippi, had a long pagan tradition which justified an ostensible support to the emperor.
The bust is incomplete : the arms are missing, a shoulder is detached and the nose is broken. Despite this condition, it was sold for $ 24M by Sotheby's on December 7, 2010 from a lower estimate of $ 2M, lot 9.
masterpiece
140-150 CE Apollo Belvedere
Vatican
Discovered in 1489.
The image is shared by Wikimedia with attribution Livioandronico2013, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
The Apollo Belvedere (also known as the Belvedere Apollo or Pythian Apollo) is one of the most celebrated marble sculptures from classical antiquity, housed in the Vatican Museums in Vatican City (Pio-Clementine Museum, Cortile Ottagono / Octagonal Courtyard). This over-life-size statue stands 224 cm (about 7 feet 4 inches) tall and is a Roman copy, dated to the mid-2nd century CE (around 140–150 CE), of a lost Greek bronze original likely created between 330–320 BCE by the Athenian sculptor Leochares.
The figure depicts the god Apollo in a moment of triumphant poise immediately after releasing an arrow from his bow (now missing in his left hand). He stands in a sophisticated contrapposto—weight shifted onto his right leg, left leg relaxed and slightly forward—creating a dynamic yet balanced stance that appears both frontal and in profile. His muscular yet idealized body is nude except for sandals and a chlamys (short cloak) draped over his left shoulder and arm, clasped at the right shoulder with a fibula. A quiver of arrows hangs across his right shoulder, and he rests his left hand (restored) on a tree trunk entwined with a python (or serpent), evoking his victory over the serpent Python at Delphi. His head turns slightly to the left, gaze directed outward, with long, flowing ringlets of curly hair rising to a topknot bound by a strophium (headband symbolic of divinity). The face exudes serene nobility, youthful beauty, and quiet intensity—once enhanced by traces of gold in the hair, as recent analyses confirm, aligning with ancient descriptions of "radiant Apollo."
The sculpture exemplifies the transition from Classical to Hellenistic ideals: perfect anatomical proportions, subtle movement, and emotional restraint combined with lifelike naturalism. It became an archetype of masculine beauty and ideal human form during the Renaissance and beyond.
The statue was rediscovered in 1489 amid the ruins of an ancient Roman domus (house) on Rome's Viminal Hill. It was quickly acquired by Cardinal Giuliano della Rovere (future Pope Julius II). Upon his election as pope in 1503, Julius II transferred it to the Vatican, where it is documented in the Belvedere Courtyard by 1508–1509. By 1511, it was on semi-public display there, becoming a cornerstone of the Vatican's early antiquities collection alongside works like the Laocoön. When found, it was largely intact but missing the left hand and parts of the right forearm and fingers. Between 1532–1533, sculptor Giovannangelo Montorsoli (a pupil of Michelangelo) restored it, adding the left arm (resting on the tree trunk) and right forearm—restorations that stood until modern times, though informed by later discoveries (e.g., plaster casts of the original left hand found in the 1950s in Naples).
The Apollo Belvedere profoundly influenced Renaissance and later artists: Michelangelo studied it closely, Albrecht Dürer and others drew from its proportions, and it shaped neoclassical ideals of beauty (e.g., in Winckelmann's writings on Greek art). It was widely copied in casts, engravings, and reductions, symbolizing classical perfection.
A major five-year restoration, funded by the Patrons of the Arts in the Vatican Museums, culminated in its unveiling on October 15, 2024. The project cleaned the marble, removed old restorations where possible, stabilized surfaces, and revealed subtle ancient details like purple traces (possibly from original polychromy) and confirmed gold in the hair. As of February 2026, the freshly restored statue stands proudly in the Cortile Ottagono (Octagonal Courtyard), a highlight of the Vatican Museums, drawing visitors with its timeless grace and embodiment of divine poise after more than 2,000 years.
The image is shared by Wikimedia with attribution Livioandronico2013, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
The Apollo Belvedere (also known as the Belvedere Apollo or Pythian Apollo) is one of the most celebrated marble sculptures from classical antiquity, housed in the Vatican Museums in Vatican City (Pio-Clementine Museum, Cortile Ottagono / Octagonal Courtyard). This over-life-size statue stands 224 cm (about 7 feet 4 inches) tall and is a Roman copy, dated to the mid-2nd century CE (around 140–150 CE), of a lost Greek bronze original likely created between 330–320 BCE by the Athenian sculptor Leochares.
The figure depicts the god Apollo in a moment of triumphant poise immediately after releasing an arrow from his bow (now missing in his left hand). He stands in a sophisticated contrapposto—weight shifted onto his right leg, left leg relaxed and slightly forward—creating a dynamic yet balanced stance that appears both frontal and in profile. His muscular yet idealized body is nude except for sandals and a chlamys (short cloak) draped over his left shoulder and arm, clasped at the right shoulder with a fibula. A quiver of arrows hangs across his right shoulder, and he rests his left hand (restored) on a tree trunk entwined with a python (or serpent), evoking his victory over the serpent Python at Delphi. His head turns slightly to the left, gaze directed outward, with long, flowing ringlets of curly hair rising to a topknot bound by a strophium (headband symbolic of divinity). The face exudes serene nobility, youthful beauty, and quiet intensity—once enhanced by traces of gold in the hair, as recent analyses confirm, aligning with ancient descriptions of "radiant Apollo."
The sculpture exemplifies the transition from Classical to Hellenistic ideals: perfect anatomical proportions, subtle movement, and emotional restraint combined with lifelike naturalism. It became an archetype of masculine beauty and ideal human form during the Renaissance and beyond.
The statue was rediscovered in 1489 amid the ruins of an ancient Roman domus (house) on Rome's Viminal Hill. It was quickly acquired by Cardinal Giuliano della Rovere (future Pope Julius II). Upon his election as pope in 1503, Julius II transferred it to the Vatican, where it is documented in the Belvedere Courtyard by 1508–1509. By 1511, it was on semi-public display there, becoming a cornerstone of the Vatican's early antiquities collection alongside works like the Laocoön. When found, it was largely intact but missing the left hand and parts of the right forearm and fingers. Between 1532–1533, sculptor Giovannangelo Montorsoli (a pupil of Michelangelo) restored it, adding the left arm (resting on the tree trunk) and right forearm—restorations that stood until modern times, though informed by later discoveries (e.g., plaster casts of the original left hand found in the 1950s in Naples).
The Apollo Belvedere profoundly influenced Renaissance and later artists: Michelangelo studied it closely, Albrecht Dürer and others drew from its proportions, and it shaped neoclassical ideals of beauty (e.g., in Winckelmann's writings on Greek art). It was widely copied in casts, engravings, and reductions, symbolizing classical perfection.
A major five-year restoration, funded by the Patrons of the Arts in the Vatican Museums, culminated in its unveiling on October 15, 2024. The project cleaned the marble, removed old restorations where possible, stabilized surfaces, and revealed subtle ancient details like purple traces (possibly from original polychromy) and confirmed gold in the hair. As of February 2026, the freshly restored statue stands proudly in the Cortile Ottagono (Octagonal Courtyard), a highlight of the Vatican Museums, drawing visitors with its timeless grace and embodiment of divine poise after more than 2,000 years.
193 Bust of Didius Julianus
2019 SOLD for $ 4.8M by Christie's
On April 29, 2019, Christie's sold for $ 4.8M from a lower estimate of $ 1.2M a Roman marble bust 71 cm high in superb condition keeping some original surface polish, lot 191.
This figure is the oversized portrait of a man in his mature age with an abundant beard and curly hair, in the fashion of the transition period between the Antonines and the Severans. He is a soldier, wearing a cuirass over his tunic.
The comparison with the coins identifies Didius Julianus, recognizable by the bump on the bridge of his nose and his protruding upper lip. This man was emperor for 9 weeks in 946 Ab urbe condita corresponding to 193 CE before being murdered or executed. He was hated during his reign as explained below and this bust cannot be posthumous.
The emperor Pertinax had just been assassinated by the Praetorian guard for attempting to reorganize the finances after the catastrophic reign of Commodus. The guards were awaiting retribution from any new emperor. Pertinax's father-in-law, Sulpicianus, promised to each man a bonus worth eight years of wages. Arriving at that time to try his luck, Didius Julianus gives way to the pressure of the guards and promises even more than his rival.
This way of taking power is considered by the armies as a shameful auction of the Roman Empire. It immediately triggers the civil war that will be won by Septimius Severus.
Raised by the mother of Marcus Aurelius, Julianus had hitherto made a successful career. The story of his short reign was told by Cassius Dio who worked for the Severans. It is certainly not objective.
This figure is the oversized portrait of a man in his mature age with an abundant beard and curly hair, in the fashion of the transition period between the Antonines and the Severans. He is a soldier, wearing a cuirass over his tunic.
The comparison with the coins identifies Didius Julianus, recognizable by the bump on the bridge of his nose and his protruding upper lip. This man was emperor for 9 weeks in 946 Ab urbe condita corresponding to 193 CE before being murdered or executed. He was hated during his reign as explained below and this bust cannot be posthumous.
The emperor Pertinax had just been assassinated by the Praetorian guard for attempting to reorganize the finances after the catastrophic reign of Commodus. The guards were awaiting retribution from any new emperor. Pertinax's father-in-law, Sulpicianus, promised to each man a bonus worth eight years of wages. Arriving at that time to try his luck, Didius Julianus gives way to the pressure of the guards and promises even more than his rival.
This way of taking power is considered by the armies as a shameful auction of the Roman Empire. It immediately triggers the civil war that will be won by Septimius Severus.
Raised by the mother of Marcus Aurelius, Julianus had hitherto made a successful career. The story of his short reign was told by Cassius Dio who worked for the Severans. It is certainly not objective.
#AuctionUpdate 'A Roman Marble Portrait Bust Of Emperor Didius Julianus' achieved $4,815,000 against a high estimate of $1,800,000 today in our Antiquities sale in #NewYork https://t.co/2EbXzYPxRM pic.twitter.com/N3ghOYDLs2
— Christie's (@ChristiesInc) April 29, 2019
Roman Bust of Athena
2010 SOLD for $ 4.1M by Sotheby's
At the time of Phidias, the Greeks understood that their gods had to be exemplary. They created a canon of beauty for these cults, with figures often larger than life. The Romans of the imperial period adapted the Greek gods to their use and made copies of the sculptures for their collections and their gardens.
In 1787 Goethe is visiting the Palazzo Giustiniani in Rome. He falls in adoration in front of a Roman marble of Athena, 2.25 m high. The goddess wearing her Corinthian helmet is charming and serene, with slightly parted lips as if to whisper sweet words.
There are several Roman copies of this antique Greek figure. A marble bust was sold by Sotheby's on June 11, 2010 for $ 4.1M from a lower estimate of $ 600K, lot 18.
This bust without base is 58 cm high including a chisel point which was probably intended to embed it in the draped body of the goddess. The nose is broken.
In 1787 Goethe is visiting the Palazzo Giustiniani in Rome. He falls in adoration in front of a Roman marble of Athena, 2.25 m high. The goddess wearing her Corinthian helmet is charming and serene, with slightly parted lips as if to whisper sweet words.
There are several Roman copies of this antique Greek figure. A marble bust was sold by Sotheby's on June 11, 2010 for $ 4.1M from a lower estimate of $ 600K, lot 18.
This bust without base is 58 cm high including a chisel point which was probably intended to embed it in the draped body of the goddess. The nose is broken.
Capitoline Venus
2021 SOLD for £ 18.6M by Sotheby's
The Aphrodite of Knidos is one of the most important art works in history. Made by Praxiteles from the super-beauty Phryne, it was the first life size sculpture of full female nudity in Greek art at a time when full nude heroic males were common.
The goddess of love is featured standing with one leg very slightly bent, in modesty with a hand hiding the sex. The other arm is posed over a vase thrown with drapery upon it, raised here for assuring the stability of the heavy marble but also forwarding the idea of the preparation for a ritual bath.
The original marble was destroyed in a fire in 475 CE. The figure was highly popular and led to two Roman variants of the Venus pudica with sex and breast covered by the hands. They are known as the Venus de' Medici and the Capitoline Venus.
A Roman Imperial marble example of the Capitoline Venus was sold in Rome in 1776 by the art dealer Gavin Hamilton to the 8th Duke of Hamilton who was making his Grand Tour. While looking for customers in the previous year, Gavin Hamilton commented possibly wrongly that the head is not its own and rightly that the vase and its drapery are not antique.
The Hamilton Venus resided in Hamilton Palace in Lanarkshire for nearly 150 years and in the collection of William Randolph Hearst from 1920 to 1940. It went out of view in a private collection after an auction in 1949.
It has just resurfaced and was sold for £ 18.6M from a lower estimate of £ 2M by Sotheby's on December 7, 2021, lot 70. Some 18th century restorations are listed in the catalogue. The original marble plinth is now resting on a wooden base for a total height of 197 cm.
The goddess of love is featured standing with one leg very slightly bent, in modesty with a hand hiding the sex. The other arm is posed over a vase thrown with drapery upon it, raised here for assuring the stability of the heavy marble but also forwarding the idea of the preparation for a ritual bath.
The original marble was destroyed in a fire in 475 CE. The figure was highly popular and led to two Roman variants of the Venus pudica with sex and breast covered by the hands. They are known as the Venus de' Medici and the Capitoline Venus.
A Roman Imperial marble example of the Capitoline Venus was sold in Rome in 1776 by the art dealer Gavin Hamilton to the 8th Duke of Hamilton who was making his Grand Tour. While looking for customers in the previous year, Gavin Hamilton commented possibly wrongly that the head is not its own and rightly that the vase and its drapery are not antique.
The Hamilton Venus resided in Hamilton Palace in Lanarkshire for nearly 150 years and in the collection of William Randolph Hearst from 1920 to 1940. It went out of view in a private collection after an auction in 1949.
It has just resurfaced and was sold for £ 18.6M from a lower estimate of £ 2M by Sotheby's on December 7, 2021, lot 70. Some 18th century restorations are listed in the catalogue. The original marble plinth is now resting on a wooden base for a total height of 197 cm.
