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Bronze cut-out plaque of Hermes

Χ4113
Bronze
Missing one corner and part of the torso. Cracks
Height: 10.9 cm. Max. width: 8.7 cm. Thickness: 0.05 cm.
Syme
Sanctuary of Hermes and Aphrodite. Sanctuary altar
Archaic period:
650-640 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 a man in a tree, straddling the second branch, which he is also grasping with his right hand, supporting himself with his left hand and his feet on the trunk. The lively, momentary scene is rendered through the motions of the limbs and the long, asymmetrically parted locks, the expressive frontal face, and the contrast between the tightness of the tunic around the legs and the looseness of the garment above the belt, hanging in a deep V-shape, perhaps due to the figure’s effortful twisting of the upper body. The tree is stylised, with symmetrical bare branches to which are attached incised, conventionally rendered leaves or cedar cones. The whole scene probably represents the appearance (epiphany) of Hermes Cedrites (Hermes of the Cedars), a vegetation god of Creto-Mycenaean origin who was amalgamated with the Hermes of the Olympic pantheon at this sanctuary during the Historical period.
Bibliography:
A. Lebessi, Το Ιερό του Ερμή και της Αφροδίτης στη Σύμη Βιάννου 1. Χάλκινα Κρητικά Τορεύματα, Athens 1985, 19, 30-31 no. Α21, 60, 62, 93, 128, 148-152, pl. 15.
Author:
K. S.


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