Mercury - Krakow, Poland
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Metro2
N 50° 03.899 E 019° 56.443
34U E 424187 N 5546393
Mercury is the patron god of financial gain, commerce, eloquence and communications.
This sculpture is near St. Florian's Gate.
Waymark Code: WMQ260
Location: Małopolskie, Poland
Date Posted: 12/04/2015
Views: 13
This life-sized bronze sculpture depicts the god Mercury, naked and seated, apparently on a tree stump, about to play a pan flute. He wears the customary helmet with wings The signage indicates that this is a copy of BERTEL THORVALDSEN's original. The work is undated.
Wikipedia (
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"Mercury... About this sound listen (help·info)) is a major Roman god, being one of the Dii Consentes within the ancient Roman pantheon. He is the patron god of financial gain, commerce, eloquence (and thus poetry), messages/communication (including divination), travelers, boundaries, luck, trickery and thieves; he is also the guide of souls to the underworld. He was considered the son of Maia and Jupiter in Roman mythology. His name is possibly related to the Latin word merx ("merchandise"; compare merchant, commerce, etc.), mercari (to trade), and merces (wages); another possible connection is the Proto-Indo-European root merg- for "boundary, border" (cf. Old English "mearc", Old Norse "mark" and Latin "margo") and Greek ????? (by analogy of Arcturus..., as the "keeper of boundaries," referring to his role as bridge between the upper and lower worlds.[citation needed] In his earliest forms, he appears to have been related to the Etruscan deity Turms, both of which share characteristics with the Greek god Hermes. In Virgil's Aeneid, Mercury reminds Aeneas of his mission to found the city of Rome. In Ovid's Fasti, Mercury is assigned to escort the nymph Larunda to the underworld. Mercury, however, fell in love with Larunda and made love to her on the way. Larunda thereby became mother to two children, referred to as the Lares, invisible household gods.
Mercury has influenced the name of many things in a variety of scientific fields, such as the planet Mercury, and the element mercury. The word mercurial is commonly used to refer to something or someone erratic, volatile or unstable, derived from Mercury's swift flights from place to place. He is often depicted holding the caduceus in his left hand."