Hermes and the Infant Dionysos - III
Hermes holding the infant Dionysos in his left arm. The mythological subjects relating to the custody of the child Dionysus to the nymphs is very popular in Greek and Roman art. Evidence of this myth are attested in vase painting, sculpture, bas-reliefs etc.
The Myth
Dionysus was the twice-born son of Zeus and Semele, snatched prematurely from his mother's womb when she was burnt to death by Zeus' thunderbolt, then stitched into his father's thigh until he could be born full-term. Zeus ordered Hermes, his messenger, to hide the newborn from his jealous wife Hera, who sought to destroy any remnants of the affair, including the newborn. Hermes carried the infant to remote mountains for hiding, where Papposylenos and the nymphs Ino and Athamas, raised the child.
German excavators discovered the statue in 1877 in the Temple of Hera, Hereion, at Olympia. Pausanias, a second century A.D. historian, describes his tour of this temple in which he saw such a statue said to be by Praxiteles. The date of this artwork is extremely controversial and as yet undetermined. Most scholars now believe it is a work of the Hellenistic period rather than of the 4th century.
Today, art historians and archaeologists disagree over whether this is an original work by Praxiteles, or one by an imitator of his style.
Marble sculpture
Height 2,15 m
Late classical Stile
Original sculpture attributed to Praxiteles [?]
Copy ca. 100 BC - ca. 100 AD
From Elis, Greece
Olympia, Archaeological Museum
Hermes and the Infant Dionysos - III
Hermes holding the infant Dionysos in his left arm. The mythological subjects relating to the custody of the child Dionysus to the nymphs is very popular in Greek and Roman art. Evidence of this myth are attested in vase painting, sculpture, bas-reliefs etc.
The Myth
Dionysus was the twice-born son of Zeus and Semele, snatched prematurely from his mother's womb when she was burnt to death by Zeus' thunderbolt, then stitched into his father's thigh until he could be born full-term. Zeus ordered Hermes, his messenger, to hide the newborn from his jealous wife Hera, who sought to destroy any remnants of the affair, including the newborn. Hermes carried the infant to remote mountains for hiding, where Papposylenos and the nymphs Ino and Athamas, raised the child.
German excavators discovered the statue in 1877 in the Temple of Hera, Hereion, at Olympia. Pausanias, a second century A.D. historian, describes his tour of this temple in which he saw such a statue said to be by Praxiteles. The date of this artwork is extremely controversial and as yet undetermined. Most scholars now believe it is a work of the Hellenistic period rather than of the 4th century.
Today, art historians and archaeologists disagree over whether this is an original work by Praxiteles, or one by an imitator of his style.
Marble sculpture
Height 2,15 m
Late classical Stile
Original sculpture attributed to Praxiteles [?]
Copy ca. 100 BC - ca. 100 AD
From Elis, Greece
Olympia, Archaeological Museum