Michelangelo and the Laocoon
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Michelangelo was never satisfied with his work on the Deposition, and he smashed it to bits, leaving it to his assistant, Tiberio Calcagni, to put it back together again.
Michelangelo, The Deposition of Christ, 1546-55.  Museo dell’Opera del Duomo, Florence
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The Laocoon maintained a power over Michelangelo's artistic imagination that continued until the end of his life.  His Deposition, which he intended  for his own tomb, was begun when Michelangelo was about seventy years old.  

The sculpture is an expression of Michelangelo's deep religiosity and of his concern about his salvation after his death.  Nicodemus, a hooded figure, stands behind the muscular, twisted body of the Dead Christ, who collapses into a position that exaggerates the pose of the central figure of the Laocoon.

                                       
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