Statuetta di Mercurio ritrovata

[ARES III]

 

 

Una statuetta romana del dio Mercurio è stata recuperata all’interno di un terreno agricolo del villaggio di Winterton, nella contea del North Lincolnshire, in Gran Bretagna. Il cercatore ha agito con il consenso del proprietario del terreno, nei giorni scorsi. Il recupero, avvenuto in un’area stratigraficamente sconvolta dalle arature, ha permesso di mettere in salvo una statuetta devozionale di rilievo.
Realizzata con una fusione in lega di rame, assai vicina all’elemento bronzeo, la statuetta è alta 73 mm e larga 25,3 e ha uno spessore di 10 mm. Pesa 43,7 grammi.

Un oggetto minuscolo legato alla ricerca di protezione da parte di Mercurio, una figura spesso associata a Priapo, come protettore dei terreni, delle proprietà, dei commerci e degli affari.

 

La statuetta romana trovata in Gran Bretagna nel marzo 2023. Foto. North Lincolnshire Museum, Foreman, M (2023) NLM-AD41FD: A ROMAN FIGURINE Web page available at: https://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/record/id/1103958”

L’identità di Mercurio è stata stabilita grazie al resto di un’ala che doveva apparire sul petaso, il cappello del dio. La fattura della statuetta potrebbe rinviare persino a una produzione avvenuta in Italia o in una città continentale. Il nuovo ritrovamento rafforza l’ipotesi che nel comprensorio esistesse un centro di culto legato alla fulgida divinità romana. Altri frammenti di statuette di Mercurio sono stati segnalati, nel passato, nelle vicinanze – tre dal territorio appartenente alla parrocchia di Winterton – come reperti sul campo. Questa è l’interpretazione più completa del dio riportata da un’area in cui il suo culto appare ben radicato.

https://www.stilearte.it/una-statuetta-romana-del-dio-mercurio-trovata-e-recuperata-in-un-campo-agricolo/

Copper alloy figurine. Solid cast figurine representing Mercury, identifiable from the stub of a wing remaining on one side of a skull-cap style hat, otherwise nude and naturalistically modelled at a scale of c.75mm. The god is rendered as a standing youth with arms at his side – both are lost above the elbow. The body is angled slightly to the viewer’s right, and his left leg is bent at the knee and advanced slightly. Both feet are lost, though his left leg was probably on the base of the figure and his right foot raised. These details confer a degree of animation to the static figure. The face retains little trace of its modelling though a nose is discernible, showing a downward and rightward gaze. The genitals are suggested with a small bulge at the appropriate location at the top of the crotch. Viewed from the back, the hollow of the lower back is modelled but the buttocks are barely divided and are disproportionately slender, conferring a slightly malnourished or elongated appearance to the figure. Overall, the appearance is that of a youth at the coltish stage of his late adolescence. The god would probably have been accompanied by attributes, of which detached rams or cockerels are the more commonly reported hereabouts. Other fragments from Mercury groups have been reported from the vicinity – three from this parish - as field finds. This is the most complete rendition of the god to be reported from an area in which his cult appears well-established, commending this as a modest find of note. The style of the rendition is Classical and might hint at a Continental if not a Metropolitan origin. Suggested date: Roman, 43-410

Height: 73mm, Width: 25.3mm, Thickness: 10mm, Weight: 43.7mm

 https://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/record/id/1103958”

Modificato 3 Aprile, 2023 da ARES III

[santone]

Bella 

[ARES III]

Interessante è che nella zona abbiano trovato altre statuette che raffigurerebbero Mercurio (da verificare), forse in quanto esisteva in loco un luogo dedicato al suo culto ?

[ARES III]

Ma sembra di averne trovata una 

 

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Roman Figurine of Mercury

Photo: LCC

This nude figurine of Mercury, the God of trade and commerce, was discovered in the Lincolnshire Wolds.

The statuette is among a dozen found in the county in recent years and is about the size of your palm.

There is evidence of farmsteads and market sites in the area, and so it’s quite possible this one stood in somebody’s home as a personal shrine to bring them wealth and fortune

https://thelincolnite.co.uk/2014/02/thousands-ancient-artefacts-discovered-lincolnshire/

Eccone un'altra

Roman copper-alloy figurine of Mercury. Discovered in Lincolnshire

[ARES III]

Forse questo è il terzo

Bronze statuette of Mercury

 

1 small bronze statuette of Mercury, found at Ashton Keynes, Wiltshire.

The earliest large-scale statues had very simple forms driven by their manufacture, known as sphyrelaton, meaning hammer-driven, in which parts of the statue were made separately and joined by rivets. By the Late Archaic period, ca.500-480 B.C, sphyrelaton was overtaken as the most used technique by a more advanced method including inverting a series of wax molds that has been lost through the many years.

During the third millennium B.C., ancient foundry workers recognized through trial and error that bronze had distinct advantages over pure copper for making statues. Bronze is an alloy composed of around 90 percent copper and 10 percent tin, and, because of its lower melting point than pure copper, it will stay liquid longer when filling a mold. It also produces a better casting than pure copper. While there were many sources for copper around the Mediterranean basin in Greek and Roman antiquity, the island of Cyprus, whose very name derives from the Greek word for copper, was among the most important. Tin, on the other hand, was imported from places as far as southwest Turkey, Afghanistan, and Cornwall, England.

In Roman mythology, Mercury, also known as Mercurius, was the quick and agile messenger to the gods. Originally, he was a god of trade related to the corn crop. In fact, his name is derived from the Latin word merces, meaning “merchandise.” He was also attributed as the protector of merchants, travelers, and shopkeepers, and defamed as the patron of thieves and those who played practical jokes.

As the gods’ messenger, Mercury plays a role in many myths. In the myth of Cupid and Psyche*, he is called upon by Jupiter to make a proclamation demanding the capture of Psyche. He also plays a role in Roman poetry and theatre, much of which was based on mythology.

Many of the myths of Mercury are derived from those of the Greek Hermes. Monuments to Hermes were thought to bring good luck, and this idea was continued with Mercury as well. Another borrowed role was that of escorting the souls of the deceased to the underworld. It is speculated that the myths originated among shepherds, lending their interest in “music and fertility.” In fact, in some legends, Mercury is said to have invented the guitar-like lyre.

In art and statues, Mercury is typically depicted as a handsome young man, even boyish in appearance, wearing a white garment. Mercury often carries a money purse, symbolizing his function as patron of merchants and business owners. His fleetness as messenger of the gods is represented by a hat or sandals with wings, called Petasus and Talaria, respectively. Mercury was thus called Alipes, meaning “with the winged feet.” He is also seen carrying a caduceus**. The caduceus was used a symbol of peace, carried by ambassadors to foreign lands. Today however, it has been altered to represent physicians, the medical field, and the U.S. Army Medical Corps.

* Cupid and Psyche is a myth originally from Metamorphoses, a Latin narrative poem, written in the 2nd century AD by Lucius Apuleius Madaurensis (or Platonicus).
** The caduceus is the traditional symbol of Hermes and features two snakes winding around an often-winged staff. The caduceus was a symbol of peace, carried by ambassadors to foreign lands.

Joe Moore

https://www.wiltshiremuseum.org.uk/artworks/bronze-statuette-of-mercury/