Statuette of Mercury

{{Short description|2nd-century family shrine statue of Mercury/Hermes in the MET}} {{Infobox artifact | name = Statuette of Mercury | image = File:DP-32692-001.jpg | type = [[bronze]] [[statuette]] | material = Bronze | height = 12.7 cm | culture = [[Ancient Rome|Roman]] | location = [[Metropolitan Museum of Art]], [[New York City]] | created = 2nd century CE | website = https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/899859 | id = 2023.561 }} The '''Statuette of Mercury''' is a [[Roman Empire|Roman]] [[bronze]] [[statuette]] of the god [[Hermes]] created in the 2nd century CE. Acquired by the [[Metropolitan Museum of Art]] in 2023, it is among a set of similar set of figurines acquired throughout the museum's history to be of either [[Gaul|Gallic]] or [[Italian Peninsula|Italic]] origin that likely served as a figure of worship in family household shrines.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Statuette of Mercury {{!}} Roman {{!}} Imperial |url=https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/899859 |access-date=2024-06-05 |website=The Metropolitan Museum of Art |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=2023 |title=Department of Greek and Roman Art Newsletter (2023 Volume XII) |url=https://www.charlesede.com/usr/library/documents/press/11175-met-publication.pdf |access-date=5 June 2024 |work=[[Metropolitan Museum of Art]]}}</ref>

== Provenance == The statuette was first documented in 1873 in the collection of [[Francis Cook, 1st Viscount of Monserrate]]. Thereupon in 1882, it was listed in the catalogue ''Ancient Marbles in Great Britain'' by [[Adolf Michaelis]].<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite book |last=Michaelis |first=Adolf |title=Ancient Marbles in Great Britain |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |year=1882 |location=[[Cambridge]] |pages=628 |language=English}}</ref>

In 1901, it was passed on to Wyndham Francis Cook (1860–1905), and thence by familial descent was sold at auction by [[Spink & Son]] on 14 July 1925. It was in the private collection of [[Patricia Knatchbull, 2nd Countess Mountbatten of Burma]] until 24 March 2021, whereupon it was acquired by dealer Charles Ede via [[Sotheby's]] to which the MET purchased the statuette from in 2023.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=A Roman Bronze Figure of Hermes, circa 2nd Century A.D. {{!}} The Family Collection of the late Countess Mountbatten of Burma {{!}} 2021 |url=https://www.sothebys.com/buy/36b64816-9776-41c3-baf2-8bbea20c77af/lots/e82cf9e8-69b2-477f-a7a4-fcec468cecc8 |access-date=2024-06-05 |website=Sotheby's |language=en}}</ref>

== Description == Hermes/Mercury is depicted as a naked young man, with his signature [[petasos]] and [[talaria]]. Standing forth on his right leg, his right hand produces a purse, while a [[chlamys]] is draped over his left shoulder. A [[caduceus]] was likely once present on the figure but it is no longer present.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=Smith |first=Cecil Harcourt |url=http://archive.org/details/catalogueofantiq00smituoft |title=Catalogue of the antiquities : (Greek, Etruscan and Roman) in the collection of the late Wyndham Francis Cook, Esqure |last2=Hutton |first2=C. A. (Caroline Amy) |last3=Cook |first3=Wyndham Francis |date=1908 |publisher=London : Privately Printed |others=Robarts - University of Toronto}}</ref> [[File:Bronze statuette of Mercury MET DP105597.jpg|left|thumb|[[Versailleux]] Mercury, discovered in 1882, acquired by the MET in 1906.]] The purse, or money pouch indicates fortune, and would be venerated in a household shrine. A similar statue in the MET (06.1057) was discovered in 1882 in [[Versailleux]], [[France]], depicting Mercury in a similar manner.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Bronze statuette of Mercury {{!}} Roman {{!}} Early Imperial |url=https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/247475 |access-date=2024-06-05 |website=The Metropolitan Museum of Art |language=en}}</ref> [[File:Hermes Criophorus (National Archaeological Museum of Athens, 1-31-2023).jpg|thumb|The [[Hermes Criophorus (Athens)|Hermes Criophorus]], based on the Greek original by [[Polykleitos]]]] The god is posed in a balanced and casual position, the [[contrapposto]], indicative of many other statuettes manufactured at the time in the 2nd century.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Bibliothèque numérique de l'INHA |url=https://bibliotheque-numerique.inha.fr/ |access-date=2024-06-05 |website=bibliotheque-numerique.inha.fr |language=fr}}</ref> They were modelled on the [[Greek sculpture|Greek originals]] like made by [[Polykleitos]], such as that of the [[Hermes Criophorus (Athens)|Hermes Criophorus]], now at the [[National Archaeological Museum, Athens]].<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2" /><ref>{{Cite book |last=Kaltsás |first=Nikólaos |title=To Ethnikó archaiologikó mouseío |date=2007 |publisher=Eurobank EFG Koinōfelés ídryma I. S. Látsī |isbn=978-960-89339-1-0 |location=Athī́na |pages=322}}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}}

[[Category:Sculptures in the Metropolitan Museum of Art]] [[Category:Sculptures of Hermes]] [[Category:Roman copies of 5th-century BC Greek sculptures]] [[Category:Gallo-Roman metalwork]] [[Category:Bronze sculptures in New York City]]