Mercury and Herse
Artist: Gerard Hoet The Elder (Dutch, 1648-1733)
Date: c. 1710
Medium: Oil on copper
Collection: Norton Simon Museum, Pasadena, CA, United States
Description
This finely detailed mythological scene narrates the story of Mercury and Herse, an episode from Ovid’s Metamorphoses in which the Greek god, identified by his winged feet, helmet and caduceus, spies three sisters returning from the festival of Minerva and falls in love with Herse, the most beautiful of the three. Herse's sister Aglauros will become envious of Mercury's infatuation with Herse and will attempt to intervene, a rash decision that ends with Mercury turning her to stone. Hoet has chosen to depict the moment at which Mercury, circling overhead, first catches sight of Herse, a graceful maiden in classical garb at the center of the composition.