The statue, which was part of the collection of Julius II, is one of the keystone pieces of the Pio Clementine Museum, whose foundation was overseen by two consecutive popes, Clement XIV and Pius VI. The famous archeologist and art historian Johann Joachim Winkelmann, who was made by Pope Clement XIV the papal “prefect of antiquity”, considered the statue of Apollo a culminating point in the evolution of Art, the perfect embodiment of the ideal Beauty. It is believed that Goethe, upon seeing the statue, fell under the spell of its timeless beauty and exclaimed that he was marveling at the greatest aesthetic accomplishment of ancient Art. Among the great admirers of the artwork, we also encounter the Florentine artist Michelangelo Buonarroti. One cannot fail to notice Apollo’s striking similarity to his celebrated depiction of Christ in the Last Judgement of the Sistine Chapel.