Hermes, (sculpture).

Hermes, (sculpture).

Unknown (Roman), sculptor.

Wiken, Dick, 1913-1986, sculptor.

Hermes, (sculpture).

Dedicated 1967.

Sculpture: marble; Base: bronze, stone.

Sculpture: approx. 8 ft. x 28 in. x 22 in.; Base: approx. H. 2 ft. x Diam. 3 1/2 ft. (2 tons).

(On top of base:) "Hermes of Villa Guistiniani/Italian 17th Century/Torso 1st Century Roman/Gift of Milwaukee Art Center Garden Club"

A nude Hermes stands with a bag of coins in his raised proper right hand, holding a caduceus in his lowered proper left hand. Hermes wears a winged hat and has wings on his ankles. Hermes is braced against a tree stump. The sculpture is mounted on a rectangular pedestal with lions' heads spouting water from each side, and set within a larger basin.

Mythology -- Classical -- Hermes

Emblem -- Caduceus

Outdoor Sculpture -- Wisconsin -- Milwaukee

Administered by Milwaukee Art Museum, 750 North Lincoln Memorial Drive, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53202

Located Villa Terrace Decorative Arts Museum, 2220 North Terrace Avenue, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53202

Formerly located Williams College, Williamstown, Massachusetts

Formerly located Anonymous Collector, New York

Formerly located Guistiniani Villa, Between Rome & Naples, Italy

The torso dates from the first or second century A.D. and is Roman. In the 17th century, the head, arms and legs were added to create the figure of Hermes. The restorer is unknown, with doubtful attributions citing the work was possibly done by Giovanni Bernini; the school of Bernini, or Algardi. The sculpture was originally located in the gardens of the Giustiniani Villa between Rome and Naples. It was purchased in Rome by Mrs. Frederic Ferris Thompson and from the turn of the 20th century until the 1920s, was located at a private collection in New York. From the 1920s to 1967, it was on loan to Williams College (Williamstown, Massachusetts).

In 1967, the sculpture was purchased by the Milwaukee Art Center Garden Club for $10,000, for the grounds of the newly acquired Villa Terrace Decorative Arts Museum. The Club commissioned Dick Wilken to design the bronze base. IAS files contain an invoice for the sculpture from Royal-Athena Galleries dated Feb. 20, 1967; Milwaukee Art Center Herme Provenance sheet, and a 1967 article from the Milwaukee Sentinel.

Save Outdoor Sculpture, Wisconsin, Milwaukee survey, 1993.

The information provided about this artwork was compiled as part of the Smithsonian American Art Museum's Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture database, designed to provide descriptive and location information on artworks by American artists in public and private collections worldwide.

Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture, Smithsonian American Art Museum, P.O. Box 37012, MRC 970, Washington, D.C. 20013-7012

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