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Bronze cut-out plaque of Hermes

Χ4112
Bronze
Parts of arms and legs missing.
Height: 13.5 cm. Thickness: 0.05 cm.
Syme
Sanctuary of Hermes and Aphrodite. Sanctuary altar
Archaic period:
525-500 BC:
Gallery:
XVII
Case:
166
Exhibition thematic unit:
Geometric - Archaic - Classical period (10th - 4th c. BC). The Sanctuaries. From Minoan cult to the amalgamation of religious beliefs
Sanctuaries
Description
Votive cut-out plaque of repoussé bronze sheet with chased details. It depicts the god Hermes as a naked, bearded hunter/archer taking a wide stride to the right. The tension of drawing the bow is evident in the musculature and the stance of the body, bending slightly forward with head up and arms raised. A short, richly decorated himation, folded and cast over the shoulders, hangs loosely in front of and behind the torso. Two branches sprout from the carefully arranged locks of hair over the ears, while the god is wearing winged sandals on his feet. One of the later works of a flourishing bronze workshop, condensing the iconographic characteristics of a Creto-Mycenaean god of vegetation, who was identified with the Hermes of the Olympian pantheon at this sanctuary in the Historical period.
Bibliography:
A. Lebessi, Το Ιερό του Ερμή και της Αφροδίτης στη Σύμη Βιάννου 1. Χάλκινα Κρητικά Τορεύματα, Αθήνα 1985, 19, 44 no. Α58, 59, 104-105, 112-116, 152-153, 164, 172, pl. 32, 34. Ν. Dimopoulou-Rethemiotaki, Το Αρχαιολογικό Μουσείο Ηρακλείου, Athens 2005, 397, 400.
Author:
K. S.


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