, 1880-05-21
THE pRAX1TELES MERCURY.
An Art Treasure from Olympia, with Ita
Origin nnd COntclnporaneous History
nHnnrl1AaiI

Hichnnt Grstnt Waite In Et1p York TY,es.
The Astor Library has received within n
few tlnys Il tinG cnst Of one Of tho most bcauti-
FIJI works Of nrt tint have come down to US
from the great scrlptors OF Ancient Greece.
It III the head md bust Of statue Of IIcr1,es,
nude by PraxitclCs, and recently ,,ncarthed
nj Olympia. I1erllcs Is the Grepk name fot
the god who Is known to most Englls!,
readers as Mercury, the latter being tho
mime which was given to uermcs by tho
Latin poets, through whom the modern
knowledge Of tho Greek mythology was first
derived,
OF tho noble beauty OF this Inst discovered
treasure Of Greek att 1t would bU difficult to
say too mich; rather, indeed, 1t is difficult to
say enough, yet with discretion, for it must
take place in the highest ranks Of sculpt-
ure second only to the phtdtan work OIL the
retltmcnt Of tic rartho,lor (the Elgin mur-
bles) and to thu 1nisnanlad "VeMus OF
Atelos." It represents lIormes bearing OH Ills
left arm tho infant Dlollyslls, or }ncchns, the
former being tho oll Greek nn,ne for tho god
known to tho Romans, and the later Greeks
by the latter. But the Greek Dionysus was a
being OF n n,ucl, higher type md finer fibre
tllnn tho Bacchus OF the Latin poets, for tl,e
Ison,nns conrscned everything that they
touched. According to the old mythology
{for mythology ilas Its periods atd almost Its
Jupiter did ssnieIe, Was il his lniancy ill.,
trusted to 1icrnes, who delivered him
to ee1taSa cn osa|a nyphs t3 Pr bo h. brousht
Jove's liglt'iing Wien he npproachc;l
her ut her. reQ-~ St-1nndo OH the Suggestion
Of tho jealous Juro-in all his proper splesl-
lHr a'd power ,,'gs a. If SHY weIo goaIess.
and by TIC j0cts witt, tho Infancy OF Dnccilus
II 0ther respects; nlld tho representation IT
the tW9 togothor y not uncommon In Greek
production Of the hend and bust, although It
f.ears no Inscription and has been hidden iii
tho earth for more tlan q Thousand years,
i,as the Hdyantage Of ',a,ying It's subject md
pa!nts 1 q knowledge whtcl. ars. not ofteS
uniteu iii regard to ancient works Of art.
For pausanlns. Greek writer, to whom We
owe tho y most ~ gt such k,,towlcaFe ~ we have
S @ss Y foas I'M aftsr t tss Gass hs says j.
"othor statues were dedicated In the 1Ieraioi
at Olympia, n,a19oly iierMes ot marble,
rraxitelcs."' Here we lave the very thing
described by Iausantus, found lii tho very
spot in which ho tells us tint 1t llad been
Without tho aid Of this passage IN PAU
sanias 1t might have been difficult to dis
cover tho subject nf tllls surprisingly benu-
tifnl statue; for tho god ts not represented
Mith Iay NY ct t',o H. us!a sisns end tokens Of
tl,,cens, no winged cup or sanaals;, he does
not appear rs tho flying rlossag go-bearer OF
Olyhp.ls, nor ~ my OF his stGrner or less
! respectable characters. lie Is shown simply
mid 6oauty. but, Notwithstanding thls, nni
| notwithstanding the destruction Of tho fig
nro Of the infant BaccllMs. there caM ba no
t!nt sout tls Htase f9r pe tle round
left tiye tiny fingers, lnld there In childish
confidence; tho Iosttion Of the statue siloWs
that tho Infant lay IN the l,olIow OF Ills bear-
eIH fr a,d St w. latter W. Locking
The god leans his loft ,arsr,, In which tic
child is, upon the. trunk OF a syca-
,!Iore treo, about which there Is some
eh'la: The eEs S of te iis i'xaro 'tSs sra i'll, ill.,
fortunately br0kan nb0ut hnlf way below
| the knee, md tho lower fragments linyo not
hcen tiiscoyered. These particulars gather
paSse IN sr fer r ts s cast a IL n. ae Xsts aas
Library Is ,nerely OF tho lead and shoulders,
The statue in colossal, hut 1t Is not OIL such
q lnrga acalo as to ba In the least oppressive
| OIL u near view.
The lleed IS remarkable not. only for Its
I sweet nId noble beauty, but for fts type. It
might well 10 takon for tho lead Of young
Hercules. Tho llA!r isin tho short curls which
an accompaniment Of unusual manly
strength, ai!.l 1t comes down low upon tho
forehead. The pro!llo is not tint which gen
crnlly appears III GreeG representations nf
yDutlltM! bGauty. cltllor III nlnti OF In woman,
The nose Is somewhat nrtlletl and approaches
tho lsoll,ai type; bit It l,ns q beauty OF out
| ltnt and proportion and q nobility Of express
sion whlcl, Is to ho found In no roman profile
| nGSs OF ita form AnI Its union ut sweetness
with nlaniiness. surpnsscs, ! yentlre to say,
TINT OF my other male lIeatl which llas coilia
tlown to us from antlauity; and tic chin,
OILY III tho finest specimens 0f tho highest
| typo Of man. The outline Of this pr0tilO at
tho M0so, mouth, md chin unites i'll Of
| grandeur nlMi Ut grncn tint cnn bo fn,agfncu
| It. not even tliat Of tho "Venls OF 3lelos."