Mercury

Mercury

BK-1959-61

monogram and date, on the base in front of the feet, incised in the wax model before casting: ‘HDK 1611.’

This statuette can be identified by his winged hat as Mercury, the messenger of the gods in Classical mythology. In his right hand, he originally held a caduceus, a wand with two serpents entwined around it. De Keyser gave the figure a beautiful S-curve based on the classic contrapposto pose. The weight is placed on the right leg, balanced by the left arm, with the other arm and leg remaining free.

Jaarverslag van het Rijksmuseum 1959, p.13-14

sculptor: Hendrick de Keyser (I), Amsterdam

1611

brons

height 32.3 cm

Purchased with the support of the Stichting tot Bevordering van de Belangen van het Rijksmuseum

purchase 1959

Public domain

? from the artist, bequeathed to his widow, Barbara (`Beyken´) van Wildere, Amsterdam, 1621;{Possibly _den Mercurius_ mentioned in her testament of 15 November 1621, see A.D. de Vries, `Biografische aantekeningen betreffende voornamelijk Amsterdamsche schilders, plaatsnijders, enz. en hunne verwanten´, _Oud Holland_ 3 (1885), pp. 55-80, esp. p. 76.} …; from John Teed, Bradford-on-Avon, to the museum, £ 367, as a gift from the Fotocommissie, 1959

• Jaarverslag van het Rijksmuseum 1959, p.13-14
• E. Szmodis-Eszláry, 'Un petit bronze inconnu de Hendrick de Keyser', Bulletin du Musée Hongrois des Beaux-Arts 34/35, 1970, p.102

To refer to this object, please use the following persistent URL:

https://id.rijksmuseum.nl/200115892