Ever Wonder What Mercury's Base Looks Like For the Birds?

[patsy6]

Remeber last year when Mercury got a cleaning?  Well, the crew took a few pictures when they were up there in the basket.  Turns out Mercury's base has a face on it.  Here it is.  Who knew?  Must be part of Mercury's Greek mythology.

[Kris G.]

How interestingly odd.  Who knew?  Thanks for posting!

[Dumpsterkitty]

Found this from when it was restored & re-installed in the 70's...



I wonder if it's supposed to represent the wind? I will keep looking...

[Dumpsterkitty]

OK-found that it's derived from a statue by Giovanni Bologna at the Bargello in Florence c. 1564-80

http://www.bluffton.edu/~sullivanm/bargello/mercury.html

 
"Note the coiled serpents on the caduceus, a tour de force of bronze casting. Like many mannerist artists, he was typically uninterested in subject matter or content. The style is all-important."


"His sculptures are meant to be seen from various viewing angles. He designs spiral compositions with beautiful silhouettes and flowing curves."


"A kind of Mannerist "joke," Mercury's flight is supported by the wind."

[Shaky]

It looks like the wind ate something that didn't agree with him. Perhaps Mercury should be renamed "Ralph."

[patsy6]

Thanks for the info and the vintage picture, Ei.  And Shaky, I like that Ralph idea. We could call him Ralph Mercury, although people might think we're referring to Freddie's brother.   

[Kris G.]

Thanks for the info and the vintage picture, Ei.  And Shaky, I like that Ralph idea. We could call him Ralph Mercury, although people might think we're referring to Freddie's brother.   

                   

[ezsha]

from The Flying Mercury

Long Description:
Excerpt from pp 123-4:

"J. Guernsey Mitchell, internationally known sculptor, is represented in Rochester by his statue of Dr. Martin Brewer Anderson on the Prince Street campus of the University of Rochester, and by his Mercury, popularly known as The Flying Mercury, atop the City Hall annex, a conspicuous object on the Rochester skyline since 1881. It was derived from Giovanni da Bologna's figure in the Bargello in Florence."

But other references to the Mercury statue place it atop Kimball's Peerless Tobacco Works building until the building was demolished in 1951 to make way for the Rochester War Memorial arena. How to reconcile these two locations?

The Kimball Tobacco Company operated until 1905. The building was then repurposed to manufacture shirts and collars by Cluett Peabody and Company. In 1924, George Eastman acquired the property and leased it to the City of Rochester to be used as the City Hall Annex and a branch of the Rochester Public Library. (visit link)

So, the locations are one in the same, and though it now truly does stand in a new location, since 1973, over the Thomson West (Thomson Reuters) building, as a symbol of commerce.
Book: Rochester - Monroe County

Page Number(s) of Excerpt: 123-124

Year Originally Published: 1937