Io1.0135_Thorvaldsen

Bertel Thorvaldsen (1770-1844), "Mercury (about to Kill Argus)" (1818), plaster original, Copenhagen, Thorvaldsensmuseum, no. A5(=A868).

Mercury sits on a tree stump holding the syrinx-pipe in one hand and in the other the sword he will shortly use to decapitate the sleeping Argus. This is the climactic moment of Mercury's involvement with Io — the spry god has achieved with his (presumably boring) song the complete slumber of the ever-vigilant Argus. The song was about the invention/metamorphosis of Syrinx from nymph to musical instrument.

Thorvaldsen and his workshop carved four marble versions of this original. Each has a different catalogue number and current locale — A873 (likely begun before 21 Mar 1819) is at the Thorvaldsensmuseum; another (without petasus) is at the Prado; another AX68 at Chatsworth House park, Derbyshire; and a fourth at the Artur Potocki Collection in Krakow. A smaller clay model preceded the A5, namely A868 (1818)

The image at right is derived from the Thorvaldsensmuseum website.