Apollo Sauroktonos
Apollo Sauroktonos is the title of several 1st – 2nd century AD Roman marble copies of an original by the ancient Greek sculptor Praxiteles. The statues depict a nude adolescent Apollo about to catch a lizard climbing up a tree. Copies are included in the collections of the Louvre Museum, the Vatican Museums, and the National Museums Liverpool.
Original
The bronze original of this sculpture is attributed by Pliny to the Athenian sculptor Praxiteles and is usually dated to c.350-340 BC. Martial wrote an epigram about the statue : "Spare the lizard, treacherous boy, creeping toward you; it desires to perish by your hands."The Cleveland Museum of Art claims to own a bronze original of this work. The work is currently being analyzed to verify this claim by scholars and archaeologists. Greece has raised questions about ownership and title.
Copies
About forty copies of the Apollo Sauroctonos are known to exist. It is also depicted on Roman gems and coins.A marble copy of the Apollo Sauroctonos is in the collection of the Louvre, with the catalogue number MR 78. It is high, and the left arm, the right hand and the lizard's head are modern restorations. Formerly in the Borghese collection, it was bought by Napoleon in 1807. Other copies are in the collections of the Vatican Museums, Villa Albani, and National Museums Liverpool. One example, albeit headless was found in the ancient sp of San Casciano dei Bagni