Mercury with the Head of the Decapitated Argus

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This is an ancient artwork depicting a myth about Mercury, Argus and Io. Argus, a devoted servant to Hera, performed a great service for the Olympian pantheon by slaying the monstrous serpent-legged creature Echidna while she slept in her dark cave. Hera entrusted Argus with the task of protecting the white heifer Io from Zeus, forcing him to chain her safely to a sacred olive tree at the Argive Heraion. She ordered him to "Secure this cow tightly to an olive-tree at Nemea". Hera knew that the heifer was actually Io, one of many nymphs Zeus was coupling with to establish a new order. To set Io free, Zeus had Argus killed by Hermes. Disguised as a shepherd, Hermes first lulled all of Argus' eyes asleep with soothing charms, then struck him with a stone, marking the first bloodshed among the new generation of gods. This artwork shows motifs similar to Peter Paul Ruben's "Queen Tomyris with the head of the Persian King Cyrus".