Oil on canvas: 137.5 x 172.5 cm. El Greco’s sole painting of a mythological subject. The Laocoön statue (excavated in 1506) was rapidly depicted in prints and models, and became popular all over Europe. The statue triggered the paradox of admiring beauty while seeing people dying. El Greco’s interpretation has hardly any beauty. He is deliberately breaking away from the balance and harmony of Renaissance art.
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