Laocoon and his sons
...oon's head is cocked to the side as he looks skyward. His mouth is slightly open, seemingly letting out a cry in pain. His forehead is wrinkled in frown, his beard and hair is wild and unkept and his eyes convey an expression of utter despair. His facial features show emotions of pain and desperation as his is being so brutally attacked by the serpents. The older son's head is pointing towards his father and brother, in what appears to be a look of hopelessness. He is frantically trying to free his left leg from the tenacious grip of the creatures. Petrified he witnesses the serpent gnaw into his father's side. Positioned under his fathers right arm Laocoon's younger son is entangled by the beast. He is standing powerless with his head tilted backwards, both his arms and legs immobile. The composition is nicely balance with the two boys positioned on each side of the larger Laocoon. The sculptors purposely intended Laocoon and primarily his face to be the focal point of the piece. This is evident as he is the central figure in the composition. He is also much larger than his two sons and it appears that he has been sculptured with greater detail. He has very toned and defined muscles as well as an almost life like face. Both sons have their right arms extended upward leading the viewers' eyes to the great expression on his face. The purpose of this was to emphasize to the audience the great pain, struggle and suffering that is unfolding before their eyes. It was also to portray Laocoon as a heroic figure, although the piece is very realistic the artist has still idealised Laocoon and his sons. Both of the sons are shown as little men, it appears as if the scultptors have used Lyssipan proportions when creating the boys. Once again this is probably to show the sons as courages figures and it is easy to show small men as courages than it is to show boys. The artists have also achieved the Hellenistic characteristic of realism rather than the Classical Greek and Egyptian inspired idealism. Its obvious that the artists have carefully studied the human figure. Laocoon's torso is rotated to the right, off his central axis, twisting up and away from the serpent. He is assymetric. Laocoon's left hand is firmly clasped onto the serpents neck, his knuckles indicate the tension. Rather than being flat-footed like Kouros of the Archaic Period, Laocoon and his sons are more realistically on the balls of their feet looking as they are actively trying to free themselves. This clearly indicates the changes in the approach to sculpture and representing the bodyof the Greek marble sculptors from the Archaic through classical to the Hellenistic periods. The focus in this period is naturism. The sculpture stands a seven feet, ten and a half inches high (7' 10 1/2''). Laocoon is a slightly larger than life size. The sculptors have created this for the purpose of realizm as well as trying to involve and draw the audience towards this piece. They have also made it this size to help dramatize the narrative. Its size helps further emphasize the central purpose which is conveying the great pain and suffering the figures are experiencing. Size was also used to help portray Laocoon as a courageous heroic figure. He is in ...