Marble Relief of Hermes in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, July 2007

Marble Relief with Hermes
Roman, Augustan or Julio-Claudian, 27 BC- 68 AD

Accession # 1991.11.8

Large marble reliefs of this type were set into walls as decoration. Many figures were shown in an archaistic style, reinterpreting the stiff appearance of early Greek art in a highly sophisticated and decorative manner.

The image of the messenger god Hermes is extracted from a well-known and much-copied composition showing a procession of four gods: Hermes, Athena, Apollo, and Artemis. Hermes' old fashioned hair arrangement, the stiff fall of his cloak, and the unnatural way he holds the herald's staff are typical archaistic mannerisms.

Text from the Metropolitan Museum of Art label.