Head of Hermes

Greek sculptors occasionally looked back to earlier styles. This head of Hermes is an archaizing work: the rows of corkscrew curls above the forehead go back to the Archaic period (600–480 BCE), while the facial features are in the Classical style of the later fifth century BCE. Hermes, the Roman Mercury, was the messenger god. He was associated with boundaries and led the souls to the underworld. Herms — pillars topped with the god’s head and equipped with genitalia — were often placed to protect crossroads and gates. In Roman times, they decorated villa gardens and gymnasia. There are different explanations for the archaizing features prevalent on Greek and Roman herm heads. Perhaps they were felt to be appropriate for the herm’s primitive sculptural form. Alternatively, they may have derived from a stylistic trend in the work of the Classical Greek sculptor Alkamenes, with whom this statue type has been associated.