2nd-3rd century AD. A carved monumental marble statue fragment comprising a muscular right hand resting on a textured base, grasping a scaly serpent with mouth open and fangs exposed, fleshy leaves below; possibly illustrating the legend of Laocoön battling with the serpents sent by the gods to destroy him and his sons. 11.2 kg, 41 cm (16"). From an important English collection; acquired in the 1990s. Laocoön was the son of Acoetes in Greek (and later, Roman) mythology. He was a Trojan priest who was attacked, with his two sons, by giant serpents sent by the gods as punishment for attempting to reveal the Greek deception of the Trojan Horse; his story was the focus of a lost play by Sophocles. His story is now best known from the Roman writer, Virgil, in whose work the Aeneid appears Laocoön's much-quoted line Equo ne credite, Teucri / Quidquid id est, timeo Danaos et dona ferentes Do not trust the Horse, Trojans / Whatever it is, I fear the Greeks even bearing gifts. Another possible interpretation is that the hand and snake come from a scene similar to the one depicting three satyrs fighting a serpent that was originally in the Medici Collection in Florence. In the Laocoön scene the snake heads are seen to be rearing, whereas in the Medici group the head is held down and subdued, as in this piece.

Fine condition.