Apollo Belvedere facts for kids

The Apollo Belvedere is a very famous marble sculpture from ancient times. It's also known as the Belvedere Apollo. This amazing statue shows the Greek god Apollo.

Experts believe this statue was made by Romans around 120-140 AD. It's a copy of an older bronze statue. The original was likely created by the Greek sculptor Leochares between 330 and 320 BC.

The Apollo Belvedere was found again in central Italy in the late 1400s. This was during a time called the Italian Renaissance. Since 1511, it has been on display at the Vatican Palace in Vatican City. You can still see it today in the Pio-Clementine Museum, which is part of the Vatican Museums. For hundreds of years, many people thought this statue was the most perfect ancient sculpture ever made.

What the Statue Shows

The statue shows the Greek god Apollo. He is standing and looks like he has just shot an arrow from his bow. People aren't completely sure what exact story the statue tells.

• One popular idea is that Apollo has just killed the serpent Python. Python was a giant snake guarding a special place called Delphi. This is why the statue is sometimes called the Pythian Apollo.
• Another idea is that Apollo has just killed the giant Tityos. Tityos had threatened Apollo's mother, Leto.
• It could also show Apollo during the story of the Niobids. In this myth, Apollo and his sister Artemis punish Niobe for boasting.

The large white marble statue is about 2.24 meters (7.3 feet) tall. People admire how Apollo's body is posed. He seems to be facing forward and sideways at the same time. This special pose is called contrapposto. It makes the statue look very natural and lifelike.

You can see the effort in Apollo's muscles, as if the arrow has just left his bow. His hair is lightly curled and flows down his neck. A special band called a strophium is around his head. This band was a symbol for gods and kings. He also has a quiver (a case for arrows) hanging over his right shoulder.

When the statue was found, parts of its right arm and left hand were missing. A sculptor named Giovanni Angelo Montorsoli fixed these missing parts. He was a student of the famous artist Michelangelo.

How the Statue Influenced Art

The Apollo Belvedere has been very important in art and culture for centuries. Many artists and writers have been inspired by it.

• The famous artist Albrecht Dürer was influenced by it in his 1504 engraving called Adam and Eve.
• The sculptor Antonio Canova was inspired by the Apollo Belvedere when he created his statue of Perseus in 1801.
• The head of the Apollo Belvedere is a main part of The Song of Love. This is a 1914 painting by Giorgio de Chirico.
• The painting The Sower (1850) by Jean-François Millet shows a farmer in a pose similar to the Apollo Belvedere. Millet wanted to make the peasant look heroic.
• The Minute Man (1874) by Daniel Chester French also shows the influence of the Apollo Belvedere. This statue is at the Old North Bridge in Concord, Massachusetts.
• A statue of the Apollo Belvedere appears in a painting by Charles Bird King. His 1835 painting The Vanity of the Artist's Dream shows how artists struggled in the 1800s.

See Also

• Apollo
• Ancient Greek sculpture