A BRONZE FIGURE OF THE APOLLO BELVEDERE

The original marble of the Apollo Belvedere is thought to date to the second century AD and is believed to be a Hadrianic copy of an ancient Greek sculpture. It was rediscovered in central Italy in the late 15th century. Probably once in the private collection of Cardinal Giuliano della Rovere (later Pope Julius II, r. 1503–13), it was moved to the Vatican in 1509 and placed, in 1511, in the Cortile del Belvedere from which it derives its name. The finishing of the present cast and the remains of a beautiful reddish gold lacquer suggest it was cast in Florence, during the time of Massimiliano Soldani-Benzi.