Pair Of Neoclassical Bronze Herms

This pair of bronze herms, mounted on elegant bases of veined black marble, is a refined example of Neoclassical sculpture from the early 19th century.

The quality of the casting is particularly remarkable: the surfaces appear smooth and compact, while the details – from the carefully rendered locks of hair to the finely chiselled laurel wreath encircling the head – testify to the hand of a skilled artisan attentive to plastic effect. The modelling of the faces, serene and idealized, reveals a direct inspiration from the models of ancient statuary, not as a mere imitation, but as a re-creation of a style considered perfect and universal.

The subject, of great formal beauty, expresses an ideal of harmony and balance that lay at the heart of Neoclassical sensibility: the pursuit of pure proportions, elegant lines, and an almost timeless aura.

At the beginning of the 19th century, the revival of classical styles – encouraged by the archaeological excavations at Herculaneum and Pompeii and by the rediscovery of ancient collections in Rome and Paris – found expression in works such as this, where the bust-on-pedestal form directly recalls Greco-Roman herms, reinterpreted with a refined and scholarly taste.