Mercury: Messenger of the Gods

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Statue of Mercury, Garden of Villa Medici

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On August 13th 1608, the Flemish sculptor Jean de Boulogne (b. 1529), better known as Giambologna, died in Florence. 

In the garden of Villa Medici stands a statue of the god Mercury, a copy of the work by Giambologna that is on display in the Bargello Museum in Florence.

Mercury, the centrepiece of a small fountain, balances on a bronze column of air issuing from the mouth of Zephyr, over which flowed water, increasing the illusion that he was floating.

Mercury, the messenger of the Gods, holds in his left hand a caduceus, a winged staff entwined by two snakes. According to one myth, Mercury saw two snakes joined in mortal combat. Separating them with his staff, he brought about peace, and as a result the caduceus came to be seen as a sign of peace.

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