0624NOTLaocoon_MarcoDente

Laocoon
Ver. Aen. 2.40-56, 190-240
Apollodorus Libr. E. 5.17-18

Marco Dente (Marco da Ravenna) "Death of Laocoon", copper engraving

Since its discovery early in the 16th Century, the famous image of Laocoon has been the target of sometimes remarkable parody.
Good examples:

political cartoon by Berryman or
another by H. Daumier

cartoon commentary by Locher

farce? by Addams (New Yorker)

Laocoön and his sons attacked by serpents, with classical buildings and seascape in background

Though the human figures are quite close to the famous sculpture, the architectural additions and the approaching serpents (in addition to those already vexing the priest and his sons) are additions to Marco Dente's telling. The caption on the altar's base "Prout in II Aeneidos P.V. Maronis" = "as in the 2nd book of Aeneid by Publius Vergilius Maro.

OGCMA slides are designed by Roger T. Macfarlane for use in Classical Civilization 241 courses at Brigham Young University.
The present resource contains information assembled for The Oxford Guide to Classical Mythology in the Arts, 1400 – 1990’s, edited by J. Davidson Reid (Oxford 1994), and it is used with express permission from Oxford University Press.
Address concerns or inquiries to macfarlane@byu.edu.