Bronze After Pigalle, Mercury. 19th Century

Bronze after Pigalle, “Mercury Fastening His Ankle Straps”—19th century

A beautiful bronze cast with a brown and gold patina depicting Mercury (Hermes), messenger of the gods and god of commerce, based on the famous model by Jean-Baptiste Pigalle (1714–1785), a piece created for admission to the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture (accepted in 1741; the original marble sculpture is housed in the Louvre Museum).

The god is depicted seated on a draped rock, wearing his winged petasos, in the characteristic pose where he fastens his winged sandal before taking flight to deliver Jupiter’s messages. Beautiful anatomical rendering and finely chiseled drapery.

• Signature: “Pigalle 1745” and date engraved on the pedestal

• Material: bronze with a golden-brown patina

• Base: turned red griotte marble, original

• Height: 28.5

• Period: 19th-century cast edition (Napoleon III / Belle Époque), based on Pigalle’s 18th-century model

• Condition: good overall condition

An iconic subject of 18th-century French sculpture, highly prized in cast reproductions by collectors of decorative bronzes.