Monumental Bronze Sculpture Sells for Record $18 Million at Sotheby's London

A monumental bronze sculpture, whose whereabouts were largely unknown for about 150 years, sold for £13.6 million (approximately $18.1 million) at Sotheby's auction house in London. This sale set a new record for a neoclassical artwork sold at auction. The piece, known as "Hamilton's Laocoön," was created in Paris in 1817 by French sculptor Auguste-Joseph-Marie Caron. Initially estimated to fetch between £2 million and £3 million, the sculpture's price soared nearly sevenfold during a 15-minute bidding battle involving four contenders.

The sculpture stands 2.34 meters tall and 1.63 meters wide, surpassing the size of the famous ancient marble Laocoön statue displayed in the Vatican Museums. It depicts the Trojan priest Laocoön and his two sons struggling against giant sea serpents sent by the gods, a scene from Greek mythology. Caron used a sand casting technique, considered innovative at the time, instead of the more common lost-wax casting method for complex bronze works.

Only four monumental bronze copies based on the ancient Laocoön sculpture are known to exist worldwide. Beyond becoming the most expensive neoclassical sculpture ever sold at auction, the price achieved places "Hamilton's Laocoön" as the second highest price ever paid for a pre-modern sculpture.