The statue represents the god Apollo just after capturing the snake Python that is infesting the coasts of the city of Delphi in Greece. It is so called because, at the time of its discovery in 1489, it was immediately installed in the Belvedere Courtyard at the Vatican Palace. The work of the Vatican museums is a Roman copy of a Greek bronze by Leochares. The god is entirely naked, with the exception of the quiver over the shoulder, the sandals and the cloak (chlamys) tied to the right shoulder, which overturns on the left arm and part of the back. The lower part of the right arm (which originally stretched the bow) and the left hand, missing at the time of the discovery, were rebuilt by Giovanni Angelo Montorsoli, sculptor and collaborator of Michelangelo.
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