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Hermes Kriophoros (Ram-bearer)
Greek
Late Archaic Period
about 500–490 B.C.
Place of Manufacture: Greece, Peloponnesus, Sicyon (possibly)
Medium/Technique
Bronze
Dimensions
Height: 25 cm (9 13/16 in.)
Credit Line
Henry Lillie Pierce Fund
Accession Number99.489
CollectionsAncient Greece and Rome
ClassificationsSculpture
The distinctive costume identifies this bronze statuette as Hermes, the messenger god. Winged sandals allude to the swiftness with which he relays information, while the petasos, a broad-brimmed conical hat associated with travel and rural life, denotes his role as divine patron of shepherds. The god is here in the guise of Kriophoros, carrying a small ram. This representation of Hermes, popular in Greek art, probably relates to a legend recorded in ancient literature. The Roman-period travel writer Pausanias, explaining the origin of a temple of Hermes Kriophoros in the city of Tanagra, recounts "that Hermes warded off a plague . . . by carrying a ram around the city wall" (Description of Greece 9.22.1). Stories such as this contributed to the widely held belief that Hermes provided protection from harm in response to prayers and gifts. This statuette may have been a votive offered to the god at one of his sanctuaries.
Rather than supporting the ram on his shoulders, as Hermes sometimes does in other treatments of the subject, this small bronze figure holds the animal in the crook of his left arm. His stance, with one straight leg thrust in front of the other, does not reflect the natural distribution of weight necessary for real motion, but it does generate a lively sense of animation befitting a god constantly on the move.
Rather than supporting the ram on his shoulders, as Hermes sometimes does in other treatments of the subject, this small bronze figure holds the animal in the crook of his left arm. His stance, with one straight leg thrust in front of the other, does not reflect the natural distribution of weight necessary for real motion, but it does generate a lively sense of animation befitting a god constantly on the move.
Catalogue Raisonné
Greek, Etruscan, & Roman Bronzes (MFA), no. 023; Sculpture in Stone and Bronze (MFA), p. 118 (additional published references); Highlights: Classical Art (MFA), p. 032.
DescriptionVotive statuette of Hermes holding a ram under his left arm. He is dressed in a short belted chitoniskos, small brimmed petasus, and laced boots with wings (endromides). The god stands frontally on an oblong plinth with his left foot advanced. Originally (now lost) he held the herald's staff (kerykeion, in Latin, caduceus) of the Olympian messenger in his right hand.
Condition:
Well preserved. gray Green patina.
A hole is drilled through the right hand; the greater part of the wing on the right foot is missing. Remains of four metal tangs for attachment into another base have been filed down. E. P. Warren thought these were feet, but they seem to have been too thin for this. There are two flat plates on the hollowed out inside of the base for attaching the plinth to the feet. These have been pierced in modern times with threading in connection with the present mounting on a wooden block. Thin patina of green and brown. Attached to mount MT.71.
Condition:
Well preserved. gray Green patina.
A hole is drilled through the right hand; the greater part of the wing on the right foot is missing. Remains of four metal tangs for attachment into another base have been filed down. E. P. Warren thought these were feet, but they seem to have been too thin for this. There are two flat plates on the hollowed out inside of the base for attaching the plinth to the feet. These have been pierced in modern times with threading in connection with the present mounting on a wooden block. Thin patina of green and brown. Attached to mount MT.71.
ProvenanceBy 1899 with Edward Perry Warren (according to Warren's records: said to come from Sparta. [Warren comments further] that it probably came from Sparta, but that it was not necessarily found there.); purchased by MFA from Edward Perry Warren, 1899, for $ 32,500.00 (this is the total price for MFA 99.338-99.542)