Greek & Roman Antiquities
Sleeping Hermaphroditus
Roman copy after a Greek original
2nd century AD (mattress by Bernini, 1620)
The statue shows Hermaphroditus, the child of Hermes and Aphrodite, lying face-down and asleep. Viewers see a graceful, feminine back before discovering, on walking around the figure, that the body has both male and female characteristics. The sculptor exploited the soft, sensuous quality of marble to create an astonishingly tactile effect.
Historical Context
This Roman marble copies a Hellenistic bronze of the second century BC. It was unearthed in Rome around 1608 and acquired by Cardinal Scipione Borghese, who commissioned Gian Lorenzo Bernini to sculpt the mattress on which the figure reclines. The mattress, so convincing that it appears to compress under the weight, is entirely Baroque.
Provenance
Found near Santa Maria della Vittoria in Rome, owned by the Borghese family, and sold to Napoleon in 1807 and installed in the Louvre.
Details
- Medium
- Marble
- Dimensions
- Approx. 169 cm long
- Department
- Greek & Roman Antiquities
- Period / Era
- Ancient
- Origin
- Rome (after a Hellenistic Greek original)
- Location in museum
- Denon Wing, Ground Floor — Borghese Gallery, Ground Floor
About the Artist
Roman copy after a Greek original
The Roman sculptor is unknown. Bernini (1598–1680), who carved the mattress, became the leading sculptor and architect of the Roman Baroque, best known for works such as Apollo and Daphne and the colonnade of Saint Peter’s Square.