Jacopo Sadoleto created the most famous description of the work in 1506, composed in the way that seeks to represent the thoughts and feelings of the viewer after having been looking at the sculpture (Baxandall, 2003). It can therefore be used as evidence for Laocoon’s effectiveness in appealing to the viewer’s feelings. “The mind recoils” he says “and the mute image strikes the heart with pity joined with no small terror” (Sadoleto, 2003, p.99). The extract suggests that the sculpture is gripping and triggers a strong emotional response. The viewer is faced with feelings of pity and unease, as if vicariously experiencing Laocoon’s suffering, which in turn allows the sculpture to be contemplated on a deeper level. Laocoon’s agony is continuously highlighted, his body being very emotionally expressive. His head tilts back in overwhelming pain, his body twists in desperation, his arms are stretched expressively. His facial expression, however, does not reflect the same agony. It is far from the dramatic, “horrible cries to heaven like the bellowing of a wounded bull” as described by Virgil (1991, p.31).
Instead his suffering is softened and dignified. The screams are replaced with a mere moan or grimace of pain, suggested by his mouth tilted open. It has been widely debated by scholars why the sculptors chose to depict Laocoon’s suffering in this way.J. J. Winckelmann argues that Laocoon’s restricted expression is an intentional sign of nobility and grandeur – key characteristics of Greek art. He likens Laocoon’s character to that of a Greek hero and states that his gallant control over his emotions is something to be admired (Rudowski, 1986). Lessing (1962) opposes Winkelman’s argument by showing that “the Greeks had no unnatural and impossible ideals of heroism” (Goodyear, 1917, p.228). He points to the Homeric heroes and gods who are frequently seen crying and screaming in outbursts of passion. Lessing does not deny the clear nobility of Laocoon’s appearance.
However, he justly argues that emotional expression being incompatible with Greek ideals of nobility and heroism is not the primary reason for Laocoon’s softened expression. He proposes an altogether different explanation, that is the ancient Greek’s ideal of beauty. Physical beauty was at the centre of the Greek artists’ interests, as can be observed though the dramatic development in depiction of male anatomy between the Archaic and Hellenistic periods. Lessing (1962) argues that beauty would not be compromised by the Greeks and because a dramatic expression of anguish would lead to a grotesque appearance of the face, the expression of suffering was restricted. Winckelmann’s argument is not altogether invalid, as Laocoon’s beauty can be as much physical and symbolic.
Ancient Greeks believed that external appearance was a reflection of the internal (Durrigl,2003). Therefore, physical beauty could be used as an allusion to nobility of the soul. Lessing argues for Laocoon’s beauty having yet another purpose, which was to appeal to the viewer’s emotions, thus making the sculpture more powerful: “ or the sight of pain provokes distress; however, the distress should be transformed, through beauty, into the tender feeling of pity” (1962, p.17). Experience of such feelings by the viewer can clearly be observed in Sadoleto’s description. This effect is achieved primarily through Laocoon’s pleading expression, suggestive of fear, pain, exhaustion and awareness of his inevitable death.
