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  • Mercury Attaching his Wings

  • After 1741 terracotta, n.d.
  • Jean-Baptiste Pigalle (French 1714-1785)
  • Cast bronze
  • 57.0 x 27.7 x 32.5 cm., 22-1/2 x 10-7/8 x 12-7/8"
  • Catherine Carter Goebel, Paul A. Anderson Chair in the Arts Purchase, Paul A. Anderson Art History Collection, Augustana College 2000.37

Essay by Megan MacCall, Former Director, Digital and Visual Resources, Department of Art History

Pictured here, is a bronze replica of Jean-Baptiste Pigalle's eighteenth-century statue, Mercury. As the god of trade and trusted messenger of the mythological pantheon, he appears anxious to take flight as he twists to attach his winged sandal. His winged hat or petasus, and the caduceus (a staff with entwined snakes) that lies at his feet, further identify the figure as Mercury.

The original statue was created during the Neoclassical period in France. During this period, artists derived inspiration from the artistic traditions of the Greek and Roman past, denying the superfluous aesthetics of the Rococo. Art of the Rococo favored curvilinear lines, pastel colors, and subject matter that frequently depicted the elite engaging in trivial activity (web gallery 38 and 40). Emerging from the Rococo was a philosophical movement that dissented from the aristocratic mores. Known as the Enlightenment, this movement promoted science and rationality and looked to Greece and Rome as ideal civilized societies. This invariably influenced artists' awareness in depicting classical motifs and subject matter.

Interest in antique art was furthered by several other factors such as the Grand Tour. The Grand Tour was popular throughout the eighteenth century, and involved touring many European countries, sometimes over the course of several years, while learning about each country's history, politics and culture. Italy in particular was a popular destination. It was upon returning from Rome, that Pigalle created his initial statue of Mercury. The Grand Tour, along with the contemporaneous excavations of Pompeii and Herculaneum, fueled a public interest in the classical past.

Also influential was the German philosopher, Johann Joachim Winckelmann, who is often considered the first modern art historian. In his most notable work, Thoughts on the Imitation of Greek Art in Painting and Sculpture, he purported that Greek art had created an ideal aesthetic, based on the harmonious composition of parts. He theorized that Greek artists had developed an imaginative method of extracting the most beautiful parts of nature, to create an ideal, harmonious whole. Pigalle, clearly inspired by the antique past, represents an idealized nude in a posture that serves to enhance the figure, underscoring the perfection of form that is derived from nature. The twisted position of the figure enhances the muscular physique of the youth, as his muscles flex to support his posture. The polished bronze adds a sensuous element to his naked form, which juxtaposes the rigid folds of the swirling drapery. When considered independently, the nude form, the youthful appearance and the textured bronze incite mediocrity—but when combined, they create a harmonious, idealized whole.