The Laocoön sculptural group

The Laocoön sculptural group is one of the most amazing works of antiquity. It was found by chance on January 14, 1506 on the Oppian Hill in Rome, near Nero's Domus Aurea. It depicts the Trojan priest Laocoön in a desperate attempt to defend his own children from two sea snakes sent by Athena for revenge, as poet Virgil tells in the Aeneid.
The Uffizi's one is an extraordinary sixteenth-century replica made by Baccio Bandinelli.