Belvedere Torso

The Belvedere Torso is a 1.59-metre-tall (5.2 ft) fragmentary marble statue of a male nude, known to be in Rome from the 1430s, and signed prominently on the front of the base by "Apollonios, son of Nestor, Athenian", who is unmentioned in ancient literature.[3] According to the Vatican Museum website, "the most favoured hypothesis identifies it with Ajax, the son of Telamon, in the act of contemplating his suicide".[4] The statue is documented in the collection of Cardinal Prospero Colonna at his family's palazzo in Monte Cavallo, Rome from 1433,[5] not because it elicited admiration, but because the antiquarian epigrapher Ciriaco d'Ancona (or someone in his immediate circle) made note of its inscription."[8] The contorted pose and musculature of the torso were highly influential on Renaissance, Mannerist, and Baroque artists, including Michelangelo and Raphael, and it served as a catalyst of the classical revival.He respectfully declined, stating that it was too beautiful to be altered, and instead used it as the inspiration for several of the figures on the Sistine Chapel ceiling, including the Sibyls and Prophets along the borders, and both the risen Christ and St. Bartholomew in The Last Judgement.
The Belvedere Torso
Michelangelo's The Last Judgement . Saint Bartholomew is shown holding the knife of his martyrdom and his flayed skin. The figure's torso strongly echoes the Belvedere Torso. The model is thought to be Pietro Aretino .
Saint BartholomewPietro AretinomarblestatueMuseo Pio-ClementinoVatican MuseumsHeraclesNemean lionPolyphemusMarsyasTelamonCardinal Prospero Colonnahis family's palazzoMonte Cavallo, RomeantiquarianepigrapherCiriaco d'AnconaAndrea Bregnosack of Rome in 1527Cortile del BelvedereApollo BelvedereLaocoönBelvedereRenaissanceManneristBaroqueMichelangeloRaphaelclassical revivalsobriquetPope Julius IISistine Chapel ceilingSibylsSt. BartholomewThe Last JudgementAmico AspertiniMartin van HeemskerckHendrick GoltziusGiovanni Antonio da BresciaBritish MuseumcapriccioGiovanni Paolo PaniniPeter Paul RubensRubenshuisMetropolitan Museum of ArtJean-Léon GérômeDahesh Museum of ArtWinckelmannVinzenz BrinkmannUlisse AldrovandiArvid AndrénL'Antico