{"id":57750,"date":"2026-07-07T17:00:47","date_gmt":"2026-07-07T21:00:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rehs.com\/eng\/?p=57750"},"modified":"2026-07-07T16:03:09","modified_gmt":"2026-07-07T20:03:09","slug":"bronze-laocoon-smashes-auction-record","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rehs.com\/eng\/2026\/07\/bronze-laocoon-smashes-auction-record\/","title":{"rendered":"Bronze Laoco\u00f6n Smashes Auction Record"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_57751\" style=\"width: 210px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/rehs.com\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Auguste-Jean-Marie-Carbonneaux-The-Hamilton-LaocoA\u00b6n-estimate-A2-3m-789x1024-1.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-57751\" class=\" wp-image-57751\" src=\"https:\/\/rehs.com\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Auguste-Jean-Marie-Carbonneaux-The-Hamilton-LaocoA\u00b6n-estimate-A2-3m-789x1024-1-231x300.jpg\" alt=\"A bronze sculpture of three figures being strangled by snakes.\" width=\"200\" height=\"260\" srcset=\"https:\/\/rehs.com\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Auguste-Jean-Marie-Carbonneaux-The-Hamilton-LaocoA\u00b6n-estimate-A2-3m-789x1024-1-231x300.jpg 231w, https:\/\/rehs.com\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Auguste-Jean-Marie-Carbonneaux-The-Hamilton-LaocoA\u00b6n-estimate-A2-3m-789x1024-1-768x997.jpg 768w, https:\/\/rehs.com\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Auguste-Jean-Marie-Carbonneaux-The-Hamilton-LaocoA\u00b6n-estimate-A2-3m-789x1024-1.jpg 789w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-57751\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>Laoco\u00f6n and His Sons<\/em> by Auguste-Jean-Marie Carbonneaux<\/p><\/div>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">As a prelude to their Old Masters evening sale, Sotheby\u2019s London hosted a single-lot auction that shattered the record for the most expensive work of neoclassical sculpture ever sold.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><em><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Laoco\u00f6n and His Sons<\/span><\/em><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> is a bronze recreation of <\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/a\/a6\/Laoco%C3%B6n_and_his_sons_group.jpg\/1280px-Laoco%C3%B6n_and_his_sons_group.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">an ancient marble sculpture<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> first excavated in Rome in 1506. The statue shows the Trojan priest Laoco\u00f6n with his two sons being attacked by serpents. Though he does not appear in the Iliad or the Odyssey, Laoco\u00f6n appears in ancient writings about the Trojan War, where one of the Greek gods (either Athena or Poseidon, depending on the text) sends serpents to strangle and kill him after he spoke out against bringing the Trojan Horse into the city. In book 36 of his <em>Natural History<\/em>, the Roman writer Pliny the Elder commented that a trio of sculptors from the Greek island of Rhodes created the statue. However, he did not mention whether it was a completely original work or a Roman copy of an earlier Greek bronze.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">After the statue was excavated, Pope Julius II purchased it and had it installed at the Vatican, where it is still on display today. <\/span><em><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Laoco\u00f6n and His Sons<\/span><\/em><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> quickly became an object of adoration among Renaissance artists, exalted as the epitome of human anguish. Every part of the priest\u2019s body is twisted and strained, while his face expresses pure suffering. The mythological subject has since become the focus of several works of art, including paintings by <\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/external-content.duckduckgo.com\/iu\/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fimages.fineartamerica.com%2Fimages%2Fartworkimages%2Fmediumlarge%2F3%2Flaocoon-and-his-sons-ca-1600-el-greco.jpg&amp;f=1&amp;nofb=1&amp;ipt=533751a8b7f50c644e0c53cdc64592ffcffd649e29d4202b375baeae020304d7\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">El Greco<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> and <\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/external-content.duckduckgo.com\/iu\/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.meisterdrucke.fr%2Fkunstwerke%2F1260px%2FFrancesco_Hayez_-_Laocoon_1812_-_(MeisterDrucke-1200540).jpg&amp;f=1&amp;nofb=1&amp;ipt=829fad58c393ba82409131d7ea5f243191192e39db4df4fa797da7480e126410\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Francesco Hayez<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">The statue has left Italy only once, when Napoleon Bonaparte brought it to the Louvre following his Italian campaigns. During its time at the Louvre, plaster casts were made of the work, which were later used by the French neoclassical sculptor Auguste-Jean-Marie Carbonneaux to create the work offered at Sotheby\u2019s on Wednesday. This was the first time in one hundred forty-four years that Carbonneaux\u2019s <\/span><em><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Laoco\u00f6n and His Sons<\/span><\/em><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> had come to auction, with the last time being the monumental 1882 sale of the Hamilton family estate at Christie\u2019s.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">The newer bronze copy differs somewhat from the original marble sculpture. The most noticeable difference is that Carbonneaux has recreated several sections that were broken off the statue before excavation. There is also Laoco\u00f6n\u2019s outstretched right arm, which is consistent with the <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">sculpture&#8217;s<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> appearance until the 1980s. Following its excavation, the sculptor Jacopo Sansovino created a replacement for the missing right arm, which many assumed was <\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com\/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQp-Vq2dFS-pllO9M2z3Jum6H1q9myLrrzergmNkjbbVG4LM_PcUz2erGg&amp;s=10\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">outstretched in the typical heroic fashion<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">. However, Michelangelo protested, saying that the arm was likely originally bent, with the hand reaching behind the subject\u2019s shoulder. It was not until 1906 that the Czech archaeologist Ludwig Pollak discovered a marble fragment in the shape of a bent arm near where the original marble group had been unearthed. In the 1980s, during restorations, this fragment was identified as the missing arm and reattached, creating the sculpture group that visitors to the Vatican museums can see today.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Standing over ninety-two inches tall, Carbonneaux\u2019s <\/span><em><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Laoco\u00f6n and His Sons<\/span><\/em><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> is one of the finest works of neoclassical sculpture to come to auction in recent years. Sotheby\u2019s specialists, appropriately, estimated that the work would sell for at least \u00a32 million. However, due to the work\u2019s rarity, size, and condition, and because it is an impressive recreation of one of the most iconic classical sculptures in Western art, several interested parties fought over the Carbonneaux on Wednesday evening. After only a few minutes, the bid exceeded the \u00a33 million high estimate and continued to climb until the hammer came down at an astounding \u00a311.4 million (or \u00a313.62 million \/ $18.1 million w\/p).<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As a prelude to their Old Masters evening sale, Sotheby\u2019s London hosted a single-lot auction that shattered the record for the most expensive work of neoclassical sculpture ever sold. Laoco\u00f6n and His Sons is a bronze recreation of an ancient &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/rehs.com\/eng\/2026\/07\/bronze-laocoon-smashes-auction-record\/?contemporary=N\">More&#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":57751,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[384,146,207,134,20,117,15,203,9,85,606],"class_list":["post-57750","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-rehs-galleries","tag-19th-century-european","tag-19th-century-french","tag-auction-news","tag-auction-records","tag-auction-results","tag-bronze","tag-comments-on-the-art-market","tag-mythology","tag-rehs-galleries-news","tag-sculpture","tag-sothebys"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.9 (Yoast SEO v28.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Bronze Laoco\u00f6n Smashes Auction Record - Rehs Galleries<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"On July 1st, Sotheby\u2019s London sold the Hamilton Laoco\u00f6n, shattering the record for the most expensive neoclassical sculpture ever sold.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/rehs.com\/eng\/2026\/07\/bronze-laocoon-smashes-auction-record\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Bronze Laoco\u00f6n Smashes Auction Record\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"On July 1st, Sotheby\u2019s London sold the Hamilton Laoco\u00f6n, shattering the record for the most expensive neoclassical sculpture ever sold.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/rehs.com\/eng\/2026\/07\/bronze-laocoon-smashes-auction-record\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Rehs Galleries\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/RehsGalleriesInc\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-07T21:00:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/rehs.com\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Auguste-Jean-Marie-Carbonneaux-The-Hamilton-LaocoA\u00b6n-estimate-A2-3m-789x1024-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"789\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Nathan Scheer\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Nathan Scheer\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/rehs.com\\\/eng\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/bronze-laocoon-smashes-auction-record\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/rehs.com\\\/eng\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/bronze-laocoon-smashes-auction-record\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Nathan Scheer\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/rehs.com\\\/eng\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/1d33fd182b28afdad8fc3548ffe6bdc4\"},\"headline\":\"Bronze Laoco\u00f6n Smashes Auction Record\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-07T21:00:47+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/rehs.com\\\/eng\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/bronze-laocoon-smashes-auction-record\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":625,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/rehs.com\\\/eng\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/rehs.com\\\/eng\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/bronze-laocoon-smashes-auction-record\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/rehs.com\\\/eng\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/Auguste-Jean-Marie-Carbonneaux-The-Hamilton-LaocoA\u00b6n-estimate-A2-3m-789x1024-1.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"19th Century European\",\"19th Century French\",\"Auction News\",\"Auction Records\",\"Auction Results\",\"bronze\",\"Comments on the Art Market\",\"Mythology\",\"Rehs Galleries - Art World News\",\"Sculpture\",\"sotheby's\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Rehs 19th &amp; 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