Lot Essay
The seated Mercury was excavated at Herculaneum in 1758 and was considered to be the most important work of art discovered either there or at Pompeii in the 18th century.
Francis Haskell and Nicholas Penny in their book Taste and the Antique note that, the statue, since the Messenger's attribute, the caduceus, was nowhere to be found, must have been transported from Greece to Southern Italy. Quoting from sources, the book further states that the statue was a copy made before A.D. 79, of a late fourth or early third century B.C. original in the tradition of Lysippus.
Mercury (Gk. Hermes), one of the twelve gods of Mount Olympus, appears in many mythological themes. He is, however, most frequently portrayed in a secondary role of messenger to the gods.
Francis Haskell and Nicholas Penny in their book Taste and the Antique note that, the statue, since the Messenger's attribute, the caduceus, was nowhere to be found, must have been transported from Greece to Southern Italy. Quoting from sources, the book further states that the statue was a copy made before A.D. 79, of a late fourth or early third century B.C. original in the tradition of Lysippus.
Mercury (Gk. Hermes), one of the twelve gods of Mount Olympus, appears in many mythological themes. He is, however, most frequently portrayed in a secondary role of messenger to the gods.