Hermes

Hermes of Praxiteles
Olympia, Greece
(340-330 B.C.)

Found during excavations at temple of Hera in 1877.
The messenger of gods, charged by Zeus to take the infant Dionysos to the Nymphs, who where to nurse him, rest on the way having, thrown his cloak over the tree trunk.

In his raised right arm he was probably holding a bunch of grapes, a symbol associated with the future god of wine. Dionysos reached out for it.

The sculptor brought out the beauty of figure by expressing the Olympian serenity of the god's face and the harmony of his body. The highly polished surface adds to the gracefull and soft characteristic of the art of Praxiteles.


Parian marble. Height 2.13 m.
The calves and the left foot are restored with plaster