Ganymede was a handsome Trojan prince selected by Zeus to be the god’s cup bearer. Once chosen, he was carried off by Zeus in the form of an eagle. Pliny describes a statue of the scene, but this Roman copy of the Greek original group is much damaged. Only part of the eagle is visible; the sculpture is heavily restored anyway, including most of the eagle, Ganymede’s legs, dog and pipes
Rome, Vatican, Galleria dei Candelabri 83
Purchased in 1884 from Malpieri of Rome
Lippold: Griechische Plastik, 269 (n.15), pl. 98.1
Walston: Catalogue of Casts in the Museum of Classical Archaeology (1889), 84, no.421
Richter: Sculpture & Sculptors of the Greeks (1950), fig.737
Lawrence: Classical Sculpture (1928), 265-
Winter: Jahrbuch des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts XXXII (1917), 226, figs.1-2
Reporter: 19 June 1885, 894, no.411
