Laocoön

The original Laocoön group was unearthed in 1506. The Greek art of sculpture lay at the basis of the Renaissance ideal of beauty. The history of Laocoön plays out at the end of the Trojan War in 1184 BCE. Laocoön was entrusted as priest in Troy with the cult of the god Poseidon. He brought on the wrath of this god by breaking his vow of celibacy. He played a deciding role in the fall of Troy. He warned in vain of the wooden horse.
This head, which depicts the human suffering of a dying man in a brilliant way, inspired Rubens amongst others, to paint the good murderer in the painting, Christ on the Cross (Antwerp, Royal Museum of Fine Arts). Rubens completed the painting on commission and on account of Nicolaas Rockox for the main altar of the since disappeared church of the friar minors in Antwerp.