Apollo Saettante
Maker
Fonderia Chiurazzi
(Italian, founded 1870)
Dateearly 20th century
MediumBronze
Dimensions56 1/2 x 15 1/2 x 43 3/4 in. (143.5 x 39.4 x 111.1 cm)
ClassificationsSculpture
Credit LineBequest of John Ringling, 1936
Object numberSN5471
The god Apollo is depicted here in the act of drawing his bow (<i>saettante</i> meaning “arrow launching” in Italian), one of his principal attributes. This statue once adorned the Temple of Apollo at Pompeii and formed a pair with a sculpture of the god’s twin sister Diana. Their placement together likely references the mythologically story of the death of the Niobids, when Apollo and Diana acted in consort and used their bows to kill the children of Niobe, punished for having insulted the twins’ mother, Leto.
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