A CARVED MARBLE PART FIGURE OF THE SEER AND PRIEST LAOCOÖNAFTER THE ANTIQUE, PROBABLY ITALIAN OR FRENCH, LATE 19TH CENTURYCarved white marble with faint grey variegation, set on associated 19th century scagliola column pedestalthe torso/bust 83cm high, the pedestal 89.5cm high, 172.5cm high overallThis bronze group is based upon one of the most celebrated sculptural gro marbles from classical antiquity, which was discovered on 14 January 1506 near Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome. The full group depicts the priest, Laocoön, and his sons struggling against the serpents which have been sent to kill them by the goddess Minerva for warning the citizens of Troy against allowing the Wooden Horse to be brought into their city.It was acquired by Pope Julius II soon after its excavation, and moved to the Belvedere, where it has remained - with a Napoleonic interlude in Paris from 1800 to 1815 - ever since.