Hermès seated after Antiquity - bronze circa 1890

Our sculpture is a revival of the extraordinary statue discovered during the excavations of the Villa of the Papyrus in Herculaneum in 1758 and today preserved in the National Archaeological Museum of Naples. It represents the God of travelers and traders Hermes (Mercury for the Romans) resting. Scholars agree that this is a 1st century AD Roman copy after a 3rd century BC Greek bronze. J-C.

Our statue is a ½ scale reproduction of the "Sabatino de Angelis & Fils in Naples" workshops - as attested by the brass cartel on the rock - from the late 19th century. The bronze deity with black patina is seated on a rock in turquoise blue marble.
The De Angelis house (1840 - 1915) brought together founders and sculptors who copied with great skill the bronze and marble sculptures of the National Archaeological Museum of Naples. We find precisely this quality of work in the statue that we present where the carving finely marks the hair, the fingers or the talaria (winged sandals) and where the dark patina sublimates the athletic body of the divinity.

The production of this Neapolitan workshop was mainly intended for the French market and the catalog of works offered was published in the language of Molière.

Dimensions: H 50 x D 28 x W 48 cm