The Belvedere Torso

The Belvedere Torso, named after its former place of exhibition in the Belvedere Courtyard of the Vatican, is emblematic of the enthusiasm for classical antiquity that these works of art have aroused in artists since the Renaissance. Although Hubert Robert, the painter of the work alongside it, had already seen many famous antiquities in Rome, the actual arrival of confiscated pieces such as the original Torso in Paris in 1798 under Napoleon Bonaparte probably additionally fuelled the interest past cultures. Elaborate and costly plaster casts like this one were highly sought after.