Athlete Wrestling a Python

thingiverse

The renowned painter Frederic Leighton was deeply enamored with Italian art. His in-depth study in Frankfurt, Rome and Paris had thoroughly acquainted him with the fact that modern figure painting relied heavily on reproducing Roman sculpture. His paintings from the 1870s strikingly resembled classical sculptures, featuring flawless nudes, sharp outlines and deliberately contrived poses. This piece is actually one of only two life-size sculptures he created, both crafted in collaboration with Thomas Brock. Clearly intended as a bold challenge to one of the most celebrated classical masterpieces, The Laocoön, it depicts three men being viciously constricted by two massive sea serpents.