Apollo Belvedere facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Apollo Belvedere |
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| Artist | After Leochares |
| Year | c. AD 120–140 |
| Type | White marble |
| Dimensions | 224 cm (88 in) |
| Location | Vatican Museums, Vatican City |
| 41°54′23″N 12°27′16″E / 41.906389°N 12.454444°E | |
The Apollo Belvedere (also known as the Belvedere Apollo) is a very famous ancient marble sculpture. It shows the Greek god Apollo in a powerful pose. This artwork has been admired for centuries as a symbol of beauty and perfection.
This amazing statue was made around 120-140 A.D. It's believed to be a Roman copy of an even older bronze statue. That original statue was created by a Greek sculptor named Leochares between 330 and 320 B.C.
The Apollo Belvedere was found again in central Italy in the late 1400s, during a time called the Italian Renaissance. In 1511, it was put on display in the Vatican Palace, where it has stayed ever since. Today, you can see it in the Vatican Museums in Vatican City. For hundreds of years, many people thought it was the most beautiful ancient sculpture ever made.
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What Does the Statue Show?
The statue shows the Greek god Apollo as an archer. He looks like he has just shot an arrow. People aren't completely sure what story the statue tells. Many believe Apollo has just defeated the giant serpent Python. Python guarded a special place called Delphi. Other ideas suggest he might have defeated the giant Tityos, who threatened his mother Leto. Or perhaps it shows him during the story of the Niobids.
Apollo's Pose and Details
This large white marble statue stands about 2.24 meters (7.3 feet) tall. Artists admire its special pose, called contrapposto. This means the figure's weight is mostly on one leg, making it look natural and dynamic. Apollo's body seems to twist, showing him from both the front and the side at once.
You can see the effort in his muscles, as if the arrow has just left his bow. His hair is lightly curled and flows down his neck. A band called a strophium circles his head, a symbol for gods and kings. He carries a quiver for arrows over his right shoulder. Apollo is shown mostly without clothing, wearing only sandals and a robe (called a chlamys). This robe is fastened at his right shoulder and draped over his left arm.
A History of Restoration
When the statue was first found, parts of its right arm and left hand were missing. A sculptor named Giovanni Angelo Montorsoli fixed these parts between 1507 and 1563. He was a student of the famous artist Michelangelo.
More recently, a big restoration project finished in 2024. During this work, the left hand was replaced again. The new hand is a copy of an ancient plaster cast, known as the "Hand of Baia." This cast was believed to be from the original statue. Using it helped create a new left arm that looks much closer to how the statue originally appeared.
How the Apollo Belvedere Inspired Artists
The Apollo Belvedere has been a huge source of inspiration for artists, writers, and thinkers for centuries. Its beauty and perfect form influenced many famous works.
- The German artist Albrecht Dürer was inspired by its pose for his 1504 engraving, Adam and Eve.
- The famous sculptor Antonio Canova created his statue of Perseus (1801) with the Apollo Belvedere in mind.
- The head of the Apollo Belvedere appears in the 1914 painting The Song of Love by Giorgio de Chirico.
- The pose of the figure in The Sower (1850) by Jean-François Millet was influenced by the Apollo Belvedere. Millet wanted to make the peasant in his painting look heroic, just like the god Apollo.
- Even writers like Lord Byron mentioned the statue in his poem Childe Harold's Pilgrimage (1812–18), praising its eternal glory.
- The philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer admired the statue's head, seeing it as a symbol of human greatness.
