Image scanned/or photographed from transparency and color corrected by Pat Cagney.

Mercury

Artist Antoine Coysevox (French, 1640-1720)

CultureFrench

Dateafter 1702

MediumBronze

DimensionsOverall: 24 in. (61 cm)

Credit LineGift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.

Object number71.2041B

Collections

European Art before 1945

On View

Chrysler Museum of Art, Gallery 207

DescriptionThis is made from bronze and it depicts Mercury riding upward on a winged horse. This is a table sized bronze sculpture of Mercury seated on a winged horse. The front legs are raised, the back legs still earth-bound. Mercury, wearing a winged helmet, sits side-saddle bearing a message in his right hand. His left hand holds the reins of the horse. The horse's mouth and eyes are wide open, with wings poised and ready for flight. The imagery decorating the struts, which supports the horse, depicts Minerva, the Roman goddess of wisdom, entrusted with the female personification of France to the King Louis XIV.

Label TextAntoine Coysevox French, 1640–1720 Mercury, after 1702 Bronze Gift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr. 71.2041b ProvenanceGift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr. to the Chrysler Museum, 1971. Exhibition History"Large or Small, Bronze or Wood, Painted or Plain: Problems and Solutions in Sculpture," The Chrysler Museum, Norfolk, VA, July 9 - September 13, 1981. Published ReferencesJacques Fischer. _The French Bronze, 1500-1800_. New York: M. Knoedler & Co. 1968: cat. no. 41. Heim Gallery. _Aspects of French Academic Art, 1680-1780_, exhibition catalogue for summer 1977. London: Heim Gallery. 1977: no. 25. David Steadman. _Large or Small, Bronze or Wood, Painted or Plain: Problems and Solutions in Sculpture_. Norfolk, VA: The Chrysler Museum, 1981, No. 32, p. 28, ill. b/w. Chrysler Museum. _Selections from the Permanent Collection: The Chrysler Museum_. Norfolk, VA: Chrysler Museum of Art. 1982: p. 49. Jefferson C. Harrison, _The Chrysler Museum Handbook of the European and American Collections: Selected Paintings, Sculpture and Drawings_. Norfolk, VA: The Chrysler Museum, 1991, No. 42, p. 55, color ill.