The Farnese Hermes
- Gallery: Room 1
- Culture: Roman
- Date: 1stC
- Object type: statue
- Materials: marble
- Museum number: 1864,1021.1
- Museum: The British Museum
- Collection record: British Museum website
- Image © The Trustees of the British Museum, shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 licence.
Listen to the free audio guide
About this object
This is "The Farnese Hermes," a marble statue of the messenger god Hermes from Roman times. The statue shows him in a small chlamys, or cloak, and winged sandals, with the caduceus, his symbol, in his left hand. Parts of the hands and legs were restored later, giving you a sense of how Roman artisans preserved and admired Greek sculptures.
The statue is a copy of an original made in the school of the famous Greek sculptor Praxiteles around the fourth century BC. It comes from Italy, and originally belonged to the Farnese family, where it flanked the entrance to a grand gallery in their palace in Rome.
This statue was sold in the 1860s by the King of Naples and transferred to The British Museum through the efforts of a sculptor named William Wetmore Story. It arrived in London in 1864 as part of a set of ten objects. Look closely—this copy reflects the enduring admiration for Greek artistry in ancient Rome.
See it in person
The Farnese Hermes is on display in Room 1 at the British Museum on Great Russell Street, Bloomsbury, London — free to enter. Choose British Museum on audioguide.london and take a photo of it to hear this free audio guide in six languages — no app download needed.
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