Hermes in Warandepark, Brussels

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Hermes is an Olympian god in Greek religion and mythology, son of Zeus and the Pleiad Maia. He is second youngest of the Olympian gods, known for transitions and boundaries. He moves freely between the worlds of mortals and divines, as emissary and messenger of the gods, intercessor between mortals and divine, and conductor of souls into afterlife. Hellenistic period saw a great number of depictions of Hermes, often through ruse of celebrity of time. By 17th Century Hermes became popular ornament or statue in gardens. Laurent Delvaux was French sculptor born in Ghent in 1696 and died on February 24, 1778 in Nivelles. He was pupil of Antwerp sculptor Pierre-Denis Plumier from 1688 to 1721. In 1719 Delvaux moved with Plumier to London where he worked with Pieter Scheemakers in Plumiers studio. Their first job was commissioned sculpture for John Sheffield, the 1st Duke of Buckingham and Normanby in Westminster Abbey in 1721/22. They worked together from 1723 to 1728 on tombs of Westminster Abbey, monuments and garden ornaments. In 1730 Scheemakers returned to England but Delvaux remained until 1732 after which he returned to Nivelles. Charles of Lorraine supported Delvaux as renowned art lover who supported several young artists at time. Delvaux died in 1778 and produced numerous works commissioned by abbeys and European royal courts. Much of his work has been preserved and can still be visited, especially in monasteries and museums in Belgium. Gilles-Lambert Godecharle was pupil of Delvaux. Parc de Bruxelles is city park in center of Brussels between rue Royale, rue de la Loi, Ducale and Place des Palais. Warandepark is approximately 13 hectares, symmetrically designed and located right between Royal Palace and Palace of Nation where Federal Parliament of Belgium resides. It is decorated with large fountain, various busts and statues, neoclassical entrance gates and bandstand. In the Royal Park are about sixty images of which majority subjects drawn from mythology of antiquity depict. Most of them are from elsewhere brought to park, especially old ducal Royal Park, castle of Tervuren where they were taken after death of architect Charles Alexander of Lorraine, Governor General of Habsburg Netherlands. The images of the park have since been somewhat affected by war, vandalism and pollution. Most of them have therefore been replaced by copies. The most valuable original images are housed in Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium in Brussels and more damaged works and pieces of lesser quality found a place in Maison du Roi Museum. Initially, the images painted gray or color of French stone. Only in 1921 were stripped under new aesthetic ideas, the images of their painting. This object is part of "Scan The World" non-profit initiative introduced by MyMiniFactory, through which we are creating digital archive of fully 3D printable sculptures, artworks and landmarks from across globe for public to access for free. Scan the World is open source, community effort, if you have interesting items around you and would like to contribute, email stw@myminifactory.com to find out how you can help.