Description
This Mercury is one of the most famous sculpture by Mannerist sculptor Giambologna, and was designed to be viewed from all sides. The Artist created it while the God soars supported by the other God Zephyrus.
The original sculpture, create in 1580, decorated the Villa Medici in Rome until 1780, where it was placed by Ferdinando de’ Medici, on top of the fountain in the middle of the staircase between the sumptuous gardens and the loggia entrance to the Villa.
In 1780 the Mercury was moved to the Uffizi Museum in Florence and then finally to the Bargello National Museum in 1865.
The mold used to execute the bronze work using the lost-wax casting process was produced directly in 1938 by Ferdinando Marinelli Sr.,and is currently in the collection of the Fonderia Artistica Ferdinando Marinelli
