Getty Museum

Statuette of Hermes

Date

late 1st century B.C.

Medium

Marble

Culture

Greek

Department

Sculpture

Institution

Getty Museum

Hermes is depicted as a mature male with pubic hair indicated. The chest and abdominal musculature is well developed. The hair is short and curly. The god wears a cloak fastened on the right shoulder with a round pin, and a traveling hat with wings on both sides. He holds a kerykeion (winged staff) in his left arm. The god leans slightly forward with the cloak positioned at an angle at the back indicating that the figure is in motion. Hermes was the god of boundaries, whose very name is derived from the ancient Greek word for a heap of stones (ἕρμα), which was an early form of demarcation. Here, the god is depicted as a mature yet youthful figure with his attributes of the kerykeion and a winged traveling hat.

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