Seated Mercury
Grand Tour Life-Size Bronze
Seated Mercury
Italian School, possibly Naples
Lifesize Bronze Sculpture
Italy
Late 19th Century
48” x 28” x 42”
A commanding life-size bronze after the celebrated ancient Seated Mercury, or Seated Hermes, discovered in 1758 at the Villa dei Papiri at Herculaneum and now preserved in the National Archaeological Museum in Naples.
The youthful god is shown resting upon a rocky outcrop, his body relaxed yet alert, with the winged sandals identifying him as Mercury, or Hermes. The composition became one of the most admired sculptures recovered from Herculaneum and an important model for later bronze reproductions associated with the Grand Tour tradition.
This substantial all-bronze example closely preserves distinctive details of the ancient prototype, including the figure's winged sandals and a small rosette beneath the sole of the right foot.
Details & Documentation:
A particularly significant detail appears beneath the right sandal, where a rosette is incorporated into the sandal straps. The same feature is documented on the ancient Villa dei Papiri bronze by Carol C. Mattusch in The Villa dei Papiri at Herculaneum: Life and Afterlife of a Sculpture Collection, published by the J. Paul Getty Museum in 2005. Mattusch's figure 5.83 illustrates the sole of the ancient sculpture's right foot and specifically records the rosette on the sandal straps. The presence of this easily overlooked feature on the Maison Palm Beach bronze demonstrates close correspondence to a documented detail of the ancient prototype.
The rosette is presented here as evidence of fidelity to the ancient model; it does not, by itself, establish the maker, foundry or date of this later bronze.
Published Reference:
Carol C. Mattusch, The Villa dei Papiri at Herculaneum: Life and Afterlife of a Sculpture Collection, J. Paul Getty Museum, 2005, discussion of the Seated Hermes and fig. 5.83.
Related Works:
Getty Villa in Malibu, California
Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna
Villa San Michele, Anacapri
Orsteds Park, Copenhagen
Price $42,500
Seated Mercury
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