On January 14, 1506, Florentine architect Giuliano da Sangallo and Michelangelo Buonarroti witnessed the excavation of the Laocoön Group, a monumental ancient marble statue unearthed in a Roman vineyard. The sculpture, depicting the Trojan priest Laocoön and his sons battling serpents, was quickly acquired by Pope Julius II and installed in the Vatican, where it remains today at the Museo Pio-Clementino. However, art historian Lynn Catterson controversially proposed in 2005 that the statue is not an ancient artifact but a forgery created by Michelangelo himself, citing evidence such as a drawing of a torso resembling the statue's back, bank records of Michelangelo's marble purchases, and his history of producing forgeries like the lost Sleeping Cupid.
This theory matters because it challenges a cornerstone of Western art history—the Laocoön Group has long been celebrated as a pinnacle of Hellenistic sculpture, praised by Pliny the Elder and influencing generations of artists. If Catterson's claim holds, it would fundamentally alter our understanding of Michelangelo's oeuvre and the authenticity of one of the Vatican's most treasured antiquities. The debate also highlights the complexities of art historical attribution and the enduring allure of forgery narratives, though many scholars, including critic Leo Steinberg, have pushed back, arguing that the logistics of such a deception would have been impossible to keep secret.