Mercury (detail), Johann Gregor van der Schardt, ca. 1570–1580 Mercury
ca. 1570–1580
Johann Gregor van der Schardt (Netherlandish, ca. 1530–after 1581)
Bronze
Lent by the J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles
95.SB.8

Mercury, or Hermes, the messenger god, was also called the logos ("word") in Greek because he interpreted divine intellect to humanity. The wing-footed deity became an icon for the transmission of arts and sciences. His power of flight was scientifically symbolic of the gaseous vapors of the metallic element mercury (quicksilver).