Mercury

16th century

A nude boy or young man standing with one arm leaning on a staff is cast in bronze in this free-standing sculpture. In this photograph, the boy’s body is squared to us, but the head turns to look down to our left. The boy has a straight nose, smooth cheeks, thin lips, and a pointed chin. A cap of tight curls is covered by a bowl-like helmet with wings on either side. The man stands with his weight mostly on his left leg, to our right, which is straight. His other ankle crosses in front of the standing leg, and the toes and ball of that second foot rest lightly on the round base. The man settles into his left hip so his torso sways to our right. His right elbow, to our left, rests on the ribcage-high staff, and his opposite shoulder drops as he rests that hand on his hip. He holds short pipes in both hands. The gentle contours of the boy’s muscles can be made out under his smooth skin. The staff has knobs as if branches had been shorn off. A tiny snake curves in a tight slithering S at the base of the staff, and a couple pebbles are near the boy’s feet. The sculpture rests a square, light brown stone plinth against a pale gray background.

Media Options

This object’s media is free and in the public domain. Read our full Open Access policy for images.
On View

West Building Main Floor, West Sculpture Hall

Artwork overview

  • Medium

    bronze

  • Credit Line

    Andrew W. Mellon Fund

  • Dimensions

    overall: 156 x 64 x 40.7 cm (61 7/16 x 25 3/16 x 16 in.)
    gross weight: 186.428 kg (411 lb.)

  • Accession

    1959.7.1

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Possibly the Palazzo Farnese, Rome, before 1704 until at least 1722. Antonio Ramirez di Montalvo, Florence, by 1844. Frédéric Mylius, Genoa, before 1879; (his sale, Genoa, 5 November 1879, no. 179); purchased by J. Charvet; returned to Mylius family by 1882; art market, Milan, possibly on consignment from the Mylius family, 1905 until at least c. 1925; acquired from the Mylius family by (Rosenberg & Stiebel, New York);[1] purchased 6 November 1959 by NGA.
[1] Provenance taken from notes and letters in NGA curatorial files.

Associated Names

Bibliography

1895

  • Müntz, Eugène. Les collections d'antiques formées par les Médicis au XVIe siècle. Paris, 1895: 24.

1960

  • Neugrass, Fritz. "Neuerwerbungen amerikanischer Museen." Weltkunst 30 (April 1960): 7, repro.

1965

  • Summary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 159.

1968

  • National Gallery of Art. European Paintings and Sculpture, Illustrations. Washington, 1968: 141, repro.

1981

  • Haskell, Francis, and Nicholas Penny. Taste and the Antique: the Lure of Classical Sculpture 1500-1900. New Haven, 1981: 266-267.

1993

  • Jestaz, Bertrand. "Copies d'antiques au Palais Farnèse:Les Fontes de Gugielmo della Porta." Extraits des mélanges de l'Ecole Français de Rome 105 (1993): 7-48, repro. fig. 3a.

1994

  • Sculpture: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1994: 115, repro.

2003

  • Ozone, Judy, and Shelley G. Sturman. “Technical investigation of the Mellon Venus and Bacchus and a Faun.” In Peta Motture, ed., Large Bronzes in the Renaissance. Studies in the History of Art 64, Symposium Papers 41 (2003): 203-213, esp. 209-210.

  • Vincenzo Saladino, “L’arredo statuario della Sala dell Nicchie,” in Palazzo Pitti. La Reggia Rivelata, Detlef Heikamp, ed., exh. cat. Florence, 2003: 128-137, esp. 131, 133, 135 n. 43.

2013

  • Pierguidi, Stefano. “Mercurio a Firenze: da Lastricati a Giambologna.” Ricerche di storia dell’arte 109 (2013): 67-85, esp. 67, 73 (repro. as fig. 7, caption exchanged with fig. 6), 74-75, 82-83.

Wikidata ID

Q63854420

You may be interested in

Loading Results