The Olympian Hermes



In 1877, excavations at the site of Olympia in Greece unearthed a large marble fragment identified as the statue of Hermes carrying the infant Dionysos, described by Pausanias. Casts show the state of the figure as it was originally discovered, and prior to its subsequent restoration. Many experts identify the figure as an original work by Praxiteles. Others date it to the late Hellenistic period. Corresponding to a type derived from Kephisotodos's Eirene Carrying the Infant Ploutos, this Hermes is clearly the work of a great sculptor – Praxiteles himself, according to Pausanias. The treatment of the front and back of the statue differs so greatly that it has sometimes been classified as an unfinished work; however, traces of red pigment may indicate an original polychrome finish, or the undercoat for an application of gold leaf.
Is this the work of a later copyist commissioned to recreate the spirit of the master's original, using significantly more advanced technical means? The question is unresolved. Are we in the presence of an original work by Praxiteles, or a Roman copy?