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Hermes Belvedere

Hermes Belvedere is a Roman marble sculpture from the early 2nd century, now in the Vatican Museums, Museo Pio-Clementino. The 1.95-meter-tall figure is stylistically linked to the Greek art of Praxiteles’ school from the 4th century BC. Found around 1540 in the gardens surrounding the Mausoleum of Hadrian, it was acquired by Pope Paul III in 1543 and placed in the Vatican Belvedere courtyard. The sculpture shows a standing nude man with a melancholy expression and lowered gaze, with a travel cloak draped over his left shoulder and wrapped around his forearm. It inspired many modern artists and was long identified as Antinous before being accepted as a representation of Hermes Psychopompos.

Hermes Belvedere, a white marble nude male statue with short curly hair, a draped cloth over one shoulder, and a missing left forearm.
Hermes Belvedere shown as a white marble statue with a draped cloth and a missing left forearm.
July 2006 © · CC BY 2.0
Hermes Belvedere statue standing nude with a cloak over one shoulder, shown on a stepped pedestal in a sepia-toned photograph.
Hermes Belvedere, shown as a full-length statue in the Vatican Museums.
© unknown sculptor; photographer Fratelli Alinari · Public domain
Hermes Belvedere marble statue of a standing nude male figure with curly hair and a draped cloak.
Hermes Belvedere, a white marble statue of a standing nude male figure with a draped cloak over one shoulder.
© · CC BY-SA 3.0
Hermes Belvedere marble sculpture with curly hair, a draped shoulder cloth, and a broken left arm.
Hermes Belvedere shown in marble, with drapery over one shoulder and the left arm broken off.
© Unknown artistUnknown artist · Public domain
Hermes Belvedere marble sculpture showing the head and upper torso with curly hair and a draped shoulder.
The Hermes Belvedere shown in a close view of the head and upper torso.
· CC BY 3.0

Identification

TitleHermes Belvedere
Alternative namesAntinoo del Belvedere; Antinous Belvedere; Antinous of the Belvedere; Lantin; Ermes Pio-Clementino
Current identificationHermes
Iconographic roleHermes as psychopomp (guide of souls)
Former identificationsAntinous; Meleager
TypeStatue
Object typeRoman marble sculpture

Historical context

DateEarly 2nd century AD, Hadrianic period

Creator

Stylistic relationRelated to the Greek school of Praxiteles; a familiar Praxitelean type
Original workRoman copy after a Greek original, probably a bronze by Praxiteles or his school

Discovery and provenance

Discovery dateAround 1540
Discovery placeNear the Mausoleum of Hadrian, probably in a garden near Castel Sant'Angelo; another source gives the gardens surrounding the Mausoleum of Hadrian
Purchased byPope Paul III
Purchase date1543
Purchase price1,000 ducats
SellerNicolaus de Palis
Original placement after acquisitionBelvedere Courtyard / Belvedere Palace courtyard (Cortile del Belvedere)

Physical characteristics

Facial expressionMelancholic, downcast gaze
PoseRelaxed contrapposto
SubjectA nude young man
ScaleLife-size
Height1.95 m

Appearance

Clothing / attributeA chlamys or travel cloak draped over the left shoulder and wrapped around the left forearm
Diagnostic attributesCloak/chlamys and a serpent around the support tree
Support elementTree support with serpent

Materials

MaterialMarble

Location and ownership

Current locationMuseo Pio-Clementino, Vatican Museums, Rome
Inventory number907
CollectionVatican collections

History and restoration

Later movementTaken to Paris after the Treaty of Tolentino in 1797; returned to Rome in 1815 after the fall of Napoleon

Significance

ReceptionImmediately became famous and widely celebrated across Europe
Copies and reproductionsNumerous copies, casts, engravings, and sketches were made; copied in bronze and marble at Fontainebleau and Versailles; casts also exist in art academies such as Milan and Berlin
Notable copiesHubert Le Sueur's bronze copy was in the collection of Charles I of England before being acquired by Oliver Cromwell; a copy by the Keller brothers entered the collection of Louis XIV; a marble copy was purchased by Peter the Great
Artistic influenceInfluenced Renaissance and Baroque art; studied and admired by Peter Paul Rubens, Nicolas Poussin, and Johann Joachim Winckelmann; may have inspired the figure of Christ in The Rockox Triptych
Rubens's assessmentPraised its beauty and proportions
Poussin's assessmentSaw it as a canon of ideal proportions
Winckelmann's assessmentRegarded it as a first-class statue, especially admiring the head but criticizing the feet, abdomen, and legs
Audran publicationIncluded by Gérard Audran in his 1683 engravings on the proportions of the human body from the finest statues of antiquity, intended for young sculptors