CIRCA LATE 2ND CENTURY A.D.

This Roman marble head of Mercury, or Hermes to the Greeks, embodies aspects of the work of earlier Greek 5th and 4th century B.C. sculptors. The fame of these illustrious Greek artists and their work was well-known by Roman sculptors of the Imperial period, particularly those in Greece and Asia Minor. These sculptors were adept at incorporating the Classical and Hellenistic styles and often integrated the hallmarks of these sculptural styles into one work. In keeping with the style found among works of the classical Greek sculptor, Polykleitos, the god here is depicted with youthful and delicate features with short wavy locks of hair radiating from the crown in an arrangement of long and flat S-shaped locks. Although worn, the central locks over the low forehead are parted, and their ends curl to create a distinctive outline for the face. The Polykleitan style, as established by his famous 'Canon' or treatise on sculpture, remained widely influential for centuries, although later sculptors introduced their own variations, such as the 4th century B.C. sculptor, Lysippus. For a similar head of Hermes in the Palazzo Valentini, Rome, also embodying the Polykleitan style, cf. H. Beck, Polyklet: Der Bildhauer der griechischen Klassik, Mainz, 1990, p. 119, abb. 23 a.b.