Apollo the Python-Slayer

Apollo the Python-Slayer is attributed to the master sculptor Praxiteles (Greek, 400 – 330 BC) and is a rare historical object as it is the only known life-size bronze version of the Apollo the Python-Slayer.

Praxiteles’s creation represents Apollo’s victory over the Python, representing a triumph of order (kosmos) over disorder (chaos).

Several Roman marble copies dating 100 – 200 AD of the original Greek sculpture have survived. The statues depict a young male about to catch a lizard climbing up a tree.

Marble copies of the Apollo Sauroktonos can be found in the collections of the Louvre Museum, the Vatican Museums, and the National Museums Liverpool.

Apollo Sauroktonos in marble, a Roman copy from the 1st–2nd centuries AD after a Greek original from the 4th century BC from the Louvre Museum

The Greek bronze statue features Greek techniques in the way the sculpture was cast, the copper inlays of the lips and nipples and the stone insert for the undamaged right eye are consistent with a date in the 400 BC.

This bronze is thought to have been created by Praxiteles about 350 BC with androgynous sensuality and gracefully curved poses, which were a hallmark of his style.

This bronze is the only large Greek bronze statue that can be attributed to the master Greek sculptor, Praxiteles. His famous “Aphrodite of Knidos” introduced the life-size nude female figure to Western art.

The Aphrodite of Knidos, a Roman marble copy of a Greek original, introduced the life-size nude female figure to Western art. (The Ludovisi Cnidian Aphrodite at the National Museum_of Rome – Palazzo Altemps)

The most beautiful large classical Greek statues were bronzes. Unfortunately, most ancient bronze statues have been lost or were melted down to reuse their valuable metal during periods of war.

Roman copies in marble and bronze often provide our primary visual evidence of masterpieces by famous Greek sculptors.

This “Apollo the Python-Slayer” partially survived the ravages of time, and with it, we can enjoy and marvel at the sculpture of ancient Greece.

Apollo the Python-Slayer

Title: Apollo the Python-Slayer (Apollo Sauroktonos)
Date: 350 BC
Medium: Bronze, copper and stone inlay
Dimensions: 150 x 50.3 x 66.8 cm (59 x 19 3/4 x 26 1/4 in)
Museum: Cleveland Museum of Art

Praxiteles of Athens

Name: Praxiteles of Athens
Dates: 4th century BC (400 BC – 301 BC)
Famous Works:

- Hermes and the Infant Dionysus
- Apollo Sauroktonos
- Apollo Lykeios
- Leto, Apollo, and Artemis
- Aphrodite of Cnidus

Apollo and the Oracle of Delphi

The Saurkotonos (Lizard-Slayer) from Praxiteles

A Tour of the Cleveland Museum of Art

Apollo Sauroktonos the Lizard Slayer

The Oracle of Delphi – The Temple of Apollo

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“The words of Mercury are harsh after the songs of Apollo.”
– William Shakespeare

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Photo Credit: 1) GM 2) After Praxiteles [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons 3) By English: Copy of Praxiteles; restorer: Ippolito Buzzi (Italian, 1562–1634) Français : Copié de Praxitèle; restaurateur : Ippolito Buzzi (1562-1634) (Marie-Lan Nguyen (September 2009)) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons