Hermes Logios (sculpture)

Hermes Logos is a statue of Hermes of the Hermes Logios type in the Ludovisi Collection of the Palazzo Altemps (National Museum of Rome), Rome, Italy. It is a marble Roman copy (late 1st century to early 2nd century AD) after a Greek original of the 5th century BC, perhaps by Phidias. The statue is a representation of the god in the act of speaking, one of the attributes of Hermes being his eloquent and persuasive speech. The physique of the Ludovisi Hermes Logos is an impossible combination that is nevertheless a summation of the attributes of the god; the muscled torso and broad shoulders of a wrestler (Hermes was the god the Greek's held responsible for inventing the sport) and the long lean legs of a runner, while his feet and hands are dainty and soft in appearance. The body of Hermes is that of a mature man, while the head of the god is youthful and beardless. Hermes carries a chalmys (travellers cloak) over his left arm, standing with his right arm lifted in a gesture of expostulation or demonstration. Beneath his petasus (winged cap) his hair is an intricate arrangement of tight curls.