Hermes & the Infant Dionysus

Hermes & the Infant Dionysus is often attributed to Praxiteles, who was a famous sculptor who worked during the 4th century B.C. It is made from Parian marble. This sculpture was found in the ruins of the Temple of Hera in Olympia, Greece.

It has a natural contrapposto, which is an Italian term for the stance in which most of the figure's weight is on one leg, its hips are twisted, and its shoulders are leaning the opposite way. It is a common stance for sculptures in the Late Greek Classical period in the 4th century B.C.

In this sculpture, Hermes is the larger than life-size figure with the contrapposto, and he his depicted holding Dionysus when he was a baby.

Even though the left arm is broken off, many suspect that he was once holding a bunch of grapes in his hand since Dionysus is the god of wine. Dionysus' arm is also broken, but it is assumed that he was reaching out for the grapes.