Hermes Kriophoros (Ram-bearer)

The distinctive costume identifies this bronze statuette as Hermes, the messenger god. Winged sandals allude to the swiftness with which he relays information, while the petasos, a broad-brimmed conical hat associated with travel and rural life, denotes his role as divine patron of shepherds. The god is here in the guise of Kriophoros, carrying a small ram. This representation of Hermes, popular in Greek art, probably relates to a legend recorded in ancient literature. The Roman-period travel writer Pausanias, explaining the origin of a temple of Hermes Kriophoros in the city of Tanagra, recounts "that Hermes warded off a plague . . . by carrying a ram around the city wall" (Description of Greece 9.22.1). Stories such as this contributed to the widely held belief that Hermes provided protection from harm in response to prayers and gifts. This statuette may have been a votive offered to the god at one of his sanctuaries.Rather than supporting the ram on his shoulders, as Hermes sometimes does in other treatments of the subject, this small bronze figure holds the animal in the crook of his left arm. His stance, with one straight leg thrust in front of the other, does not reflect the natural distribution of weight necessary for real motion, but it does generate a lively sense of animation befitting a god constantly on the move.