Augustus of Primaporta, early 1st century C.E., marble with traces of polychromy, 203 cm high (Vatican Museums)
Found at the Villa of Livia at Primaporta north of Rome. This is likely a marble copy of bronze original

ART and DESIGN

Very old marvelous sculptures

The statue of Laocoön and his sons, also known as the Laocoön group.The figures are almost life-size and the group measures just over 2m in height, showing the Trojan priest Laocoon and his sons Antiphantes and Thymbraeus being attacked by sea serpents .
Pliny attributes the work, then in the palace of Emperor Titus, to three Greek sculptors from the island of Rhodes: Agesander, Athenodoros and Polydorus, but it is not known whether it is an original work or from a copy of an earlier sculpture. Various dates have been suggested for the statue [between 27 BC and 68 AD]

Image source: flickr / Ed Uthman

Bas-relief on a stele representing the sun god Shamash, in the form of a divine statue, enthroned in majesty before King Nabu-apla-iddina (King of Babylon 888-855 BC) introduced by a priest and A protective divinity; Between the two, the solar disk symbolizing the god, suspended on an altar

Photo author: Prioryman. Source: fr.wikipedia.org

So-called “Thermae boxer”: athlete resting after a boxing match. Bronze, Greek artwork of the Hellenistic era, 3rd-2nd centuries BC (the boulder is modern and replicates the ancient one). From the Thermae of Constantine.

Source / Photographer:Marie-Lan Nguyen (2009).lv.wikipedia.org

The Terracotta Army are the TerraCotta Warriors and Horses of Qin Shi Huang, the First Emperor of China. The terracotta figures, dating from 210 BC, were discovered in 1974 by several local farmers near the Mausouleum of the First China Emperor.

Photo author: christels. Source: pixabay.com

Pendant in the name of King Osorkon II ( is a pharaoh of Egypt, of the XXII dynasty, from 874 to 850 BC, whose capital is in Tanis, in the northeast of the Nile delta), representing Osiris surrounded by Horus and Isis.

Photo author: Guillaume Blanchard. Source: fr.wikipedia.org

Stela depicts Waxaklajuun Ub’aah K’awiil (was the 13th ajaw or ruler of the powerful Maya polity associated with the site of Copán in modern Honduras. He ruled from January 2, 695, to May 3, 738.) however there is no clear indication of what the event is that he is dressed for. The date on this stela is for early 732 AD.

Photo author: Dennis Jarvis. Source: flickr.com (Some rights reserved)

Image of title, source: flickr / Steven Zucker, Smarthistor