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A nude, muscular man with wings on his ankles balances on the toes of one foot as the other leg and one arm raise up, creating a spiral that moves from the toes of his weight-bearing foot to the top of his opposite, raised hand in this freestanding bronze sculpture. In this photograph, his body is angled to our left and he looks off over his right shoulder, farther from us, so we see his face in profile. He wears a smooth, dish-like helmet with wings to each side over short, curly hair. He has a long, straight nose, and his lips are parted. His right arm, farther from us, reaches high into the air with his index finger pointing upward. He holds a scepter tucked near his side with his other hand, closer to us. The staff is as tall as the man’s torso, and has two snakes entwined up its length with wings at the top. His right leg is raised behind him as he leans a bit forward over the other toes, which balance on a narrow wedge. The wedge is held in the mouth of a human head tipped back so it rests on the disk-like base.

after Giovanni Bologna

Mercury, c. 1780/c. 1850

West Building, Main Floor — Rotunda

Medium

bronze

Dimensions

overall: 179 × 48.5 × 94.9 cm (70 1/2 × 19 1/8 × 37 3/8 in.)

Credit Line

Andrew W. Mellon Collection

Accession Number

1937.1.131

Artists / Makers

Anonymous Artist (sculptor)

Giovanni Bologna (artist after) Flemish, 1529 - 1608

Image Use

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Provenance

Count Alexander Sergeievitch Stroganoff [1733-1811], Rome; by inheritance to his son, Count Sergei Alexandrovitch Stroganoff [1794-1882], Rome; by inheritance to his son, Count Grigory Sergeievitch Stroganoff [1829-1910], Rome; sold 1900 to Sir George Donaldson [1845-1925], London; sold 1904 to (Duveen Brothers, Inc., London, New York, and Paris); sold to Mrs. Collis P. Huntington [d. 1924], San Marino, California; sold 1922 to (Duveen Brothers, Inc., London, New York, and Paris);[1] purchased 15 December 1936 by The A.W. Mellon Educational and Charitable Trust, Pittsburgh;[2] gift 1937 to NGA.

[1] Provenance according to prospectus provided by Duveen Brothers, in NGA curatorial files.

[2] The original Duveen Brothers invoice is in Gallery Archives, copy in NGA curatorial files; the sculpture is listed as by Giovanni Bologna.

Associated Names

Donaldson, George, Sir
Duveen Brothers, Inc.
Duveen Brothers, Inc.
Huntington, Arabella Duval
Mellon Educational and Charitable Trust, The A.W.
Stroganoff, Alexander Sergeievich, Count
Stroganoff, Grigory Sergeievich Count
Stroganoff, Sergei Alexandrovich, Count

Bibliography

1904: Rosenthal, Leon. David. Paris, 1904: 132, 166.

1937: Cortissoz, Roy. An Introduction to the Mellon Collection. Boston, 1937: 28.

1941: Preliminary Catalogue of Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1941: 225-226, no. A-20, as by Giovanni Bologna.

1942: Book of Illustrations. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1942: 253, repro. 229, as by Giovanni Bologna.

1943: Swarzenski, Georg. "Some Aspects of Italian Quattrocento Sculpture in the National Gallery." Gazette des Beaux-Arts 6th series, 24 (November 1943): 302-303.

1944: Duveen Brothers, Inc. Duveen Sculpture in Public Collections of America: A Catalog Raisonné with illustrations of Italian Renaissance Sculptures by the Great Masters which have passed through the House of Duveen. New York, 1944: fig. 216, as The Flying Mercury, by Giovanni Bologna.

1949: Paintings and Sculpture from the Mellon Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1949 (reprinted 1953 and 1958): 167, repro., as by Giovanni Bologna.

1949: Seymour, Charles. Masterpieces of Sculpture from the National Gallery of Art. Washington and New York, 1949: 181, note 46, repro. 142-145, as by Giovanni Bologna.

1956: Dhanens, Elisabeth. Jean Boulogne - Giovanni Bologna Fiammingo, Douai 1529 -- Florence 1608: bijdrage tot de studie van de kunstbetrekkingen tussen het Graafschap Vlaanderen en Italie. Brussels, 1956: 135.

1965: Summary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 157, as by Giovanni Bologna.

1968: National Gallery of Art. European Paintings and Sculpture, Illustrations. Washington, 1968: 139, repro., as by Giovanni Bologna.

1968: Seymour, Charles. "The Mercury in the Rotunda of the National Gallery of Art." Studies in the History of Art 2 (1968): 1-25, repro.

1970: Richard, Paul. "National Gallery's Mercury Mystery." The Washington Post (January 10, 1970): C1, C2.

1973: Finley, David Edward. A Standard of Excellence: Andrew W. Mellon Founds the National Gallery of Art at Washington. Washington, 1973: 42.

1984: Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 619, no. 954, repro., as Attributed to Adriaen de Vries.

1988: "Two Favorites in the Permanent Collection." National Gallery of Art Newsletter 10 (1988): 1,2. repro. 1.

1991: Brown, Christie. "Your Own National Gallery." Forbes 147 (June 24 1991): 123-126, repro.

1991: Gingold, Diane J., and Elizabeth A.C. Weil. The Corporate Patron. New York, 1991: frontispiece.

1994: National Gallery of Art. "West Building Highlights: Family Guide." (1994): repro.

1994: Sculpture: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1994: 195, repro.

1998: Henderson, Anne. "Myths for the Musing." Washington Parent (January 1998): 24-25, repro.

2000: National Gallery of Art Special Issue. Connaissance des Arts. Paris, 2000: 59.

2002: Pincus, Deborah, and Shelley G. Sturman. "Neoclassical Bronze-casting and the Mellon Mercury." Centre 22: Record of Activities and Research Reports June 2001-May 2002 (2002): 156-159, repro. 158.

2003: Cole, Michael. "The Medici Mercury and the Breath of Bronze." Large Bronzes in the Renaissance. Peta Motture, ed.Studies in the History of Art 64, Symposium Papers 41(2003): 129-153.

2006: David Smith: A Centennial. Exh. cat. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York; Musée national d'art moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris; Tate Modern, London. New York, 2006: 82, fig. 55.

2006: Leithe-Jasper, Manfred. "Il Mercurio volante. Il problema della figura serpentinata." In Beatrice Paolozzi Strozzi and Dimitrios Zikos, eds. Giambologna. Gli dei, gli eroi. Genesi e fortuna di uno stile europeo nella scultura. Exh. cat. Museo Nazionale del Bargello, 2006: 257, n.23.

2017: Dickerson III, C.D. "The Sculpture Collection: Shaping a Vision, Expanding a Legacy." National Gallery of Art Bulletin 56 (Spring 2017): 4, repro.

2019: Sturman, Shelley, in collaboration with Debra Pincus. "The Mellon Mercury: Investigating a Giambologna Replica." Facture: conservation, science, art history 4 (2019): 66-101, 67 unnumbered fig. (detail), figs. 1, 7 (detail), 15, 18, 101.