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Long nineteenth century · National Gallery of Art · 138

Mercury

after Giovanni Bologna, c. 1780/c. 1850

A nude, muscular man with wings on his ankles balances on the toes of one foot as the other leg and one arm raise up, creating a spiral that moves from the toes of his weight-bearing foot to the top of his opposite, raised hand in this freestanding bronze sculpture. In this photograph, his body is angled to our left and he looks off over his right shoulder, farther from us, so we see his face in profile. He wears a smooth, dish-like helmet with wings to each side over short, curly hair. He has a long, straight nose, and his lips are parted. His right arm, farther from us, reaches high into the air with his index finger pointing upward. He holds a scepter tucked near his side with his other hand, closer to us. The staff is as tall as the man’s torso, and has two snakes entwined up its length with wings at the top. His right leg is raised behind him as he leans a bit forward over the other toes, which balance on a narrow wedge. The wedge is held in the mouth of a human head tipped back so it rests on the disk-like base.

National Gallery of Art · National Gallery of Art, Washington · Andrew W. Mellon Collection · CC0 · Public domain

Artist
after Giovanni Bologna
Date
c. 1780/c. 1850
Medium
bronze
Dimensions
179 × 48.5 × 94.9 cm (70 1/2 × 19 1/8 × 37 3/8 in.)
Era
Long nineteenth century

Why it matters

Mercury, dated c. 1780/c. 1850, is catalogued by National Gallery of Art as a work in bronze. The museum attributes the work to after Giovanni Bologna. The recorded dimensions are 179 × 48.5 × 94.9 cm (70 1/2 × 19 1/8 × 37 3/8 in.). This factual page is generated from the museum catalogue and links directly to its source record.

National Gallery of Art collection record