Rare Laocoon porcelain by Filippo Tagliolini acquired by the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts

The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts has acquired a rare sculpture from the Neapolitan Real Fabbrica Ferdinandea, created in c. 1785, and modelled by Filippo Tagliolini. The present work is made of white biscuit porcelain, and represents the Trojan priest Laocoon and his two sons being attacked by two sea serpents, closely referencing the antique marble group that resurfaced in Rome in 1506, today in the Vatican. This work is a significant addition to the VFMA's considerable collection of European art, dating from the early medieval period to the twentieth century.