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Here in the photo you can see one of the most famous works of art in the world: the Belvedere Torso. Preserved in the Vatican Museums of Rome and datable around the 1st century BC, it represents the model par excellence, that ancient work of art that became the prototype of that sense of beauty, of the proportion and strength that inspired Renaissance artists such as Raphael and Michelangelo, who personally observed it. During a tour I always stop in front of the Belvedere Torso, as thereare many reasons for doing so.
First of all keep in mind that we are in front of a large mutilated bust in marble, headless and with other parts of the body completely missing. Despite this, however, the extraordinary energy and power that transpires from the marble work are impressive. Just to give an idea, the great Michelangelo spent a lot of time looking, studying and carefully observing this large bust, so much so that he used it as a model for many of the nudes that he will insert in the Sistine Chapel, and beyond. The genius of the Renaissance even defined itself as a "disciple of the Belvedere Torso". Not only that, as it seems that Michelangelo spent whole hours in front of this masterpiece, almost in pure contemplation, making numerous sketches from different points of view. After all, a work of this kind, although mutilated, still strikes for the vibrant strength released by the marble muscles, assisted by an elegance and sense of perfection typical of ancient art. The sense of the unfinished, the incompleteness of what he had in front of him fascinated Michelangelo very much, who saw important affinitieswith his way of understanding art. This incompleteness, of course, led to the emergence over time of numerous questions and as many, many, answers...
First of all the subject: who represents this extraordinary marble bust, which seems to be in the act of getting up, with his mighty muscles tense and ready to action? It is hypothesized that it may be Hercules, or even Ajax, another Greek hero. We do not know. Just as we do not know how it came to Rome: for the first time we talk about the bust as part of the private collection of a prince of the noble Colonna family (we are in the 15th century), and then it ends up in the workshop of the artist Andrea Bregno, and then later merged with the papal court of Julius II. It is hypothesized that the complete work could have been found in the ancient Baths of Caracalla or, also, in those of Constantine at the Quirinal Hill. It should also be noted that the work still today has the signature of its artist, which is rare to see. On the surface is written: "work of Apollonius son of Nestor, Athenian". A true signature, which withstands more than two thousand years on the surface of a work that impresses for the realism of the body, for the strength that shines through it, for the dynamic and moving position. A beauty from ancient Athens, to which pope Julius II wanted to add limbs and head, to bring the work to completion. But Michelangelo, refusing, affirms that the perfection of sculpture lies precisely in its being mutilated, and that it would have been a shame to ruin it by rebuilding it...