Hermes Logos is a statue of Hermes

Hermes

Hermes is the great messenger of the gods in Greek mythology and a guide to the Underworld. Hermes was born on Mount Kyllini in Arcadia. An Olympian god, he is also the patron of boundaries and of the travelers who cross them, of shepherds and cowherds, of the cunning of thieves, of orators and...

 of the Hermes Logios type

Hermes Logios type

The Hermes Logios type is a statue type amongst representations of the Greek god Hermes, showing him in the form of Hermes Logios. It was first raised for the Athenian dead of the battle of Coronea . Examples include:*'Hermes Logios' at Rome...

 in the Ludovisi Collection of the Palazzo Altemps (National Museum of Rome

National Museum of Rome

The National Museum of Rome is a set of museums in Rome, Italy, split among various branches across the city...

), Rome

Rome

Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...

, Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

. 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

Phidias

Phidias or the great Pheidias , was a Greek sculptor, painter and architect, who lived in the 5th century BC, and is commonly regarded as one of the greatest of all sculptors of Classical Greece: Phidias' Statue of Zeus at Olympia was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World...

. 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 a combination that is a summation of the attributes of the god; the muscled torso and broad shoulders of a wrestler (Hermes was the god the Greeks held responsible for inventing the sport) and the long lean legs of a runner; his feet and hands not particularly muscular. The body of Hermes is that of a mature man, while the head of the god is beardless, some might say "youthful." Hermes carries a chlamys (travellers cloak) over his left arm, he is standing with his right arm lifted in a gesture of speaking. Beneath his petasus (winged cap) his hair is an intricate arrangement of tight curls.