Flying Mercury — Giambologna, Florence
Giambologna · Mercurio volante, a bronze Mercury completed by 1580 · Museo Nazionale del Bargello, Florence, Italy
Photo: Yair Haklai via Wikimedia Commons, 23 April 2019 (CC BY-SA 4.0), from the Street Art Utopia archive. Full photograph shown; resized for display.
Giambologna’s bronze Mercury balances on his toes and points upward to Jupiter. Web Gallery of Art Checked This version, now in the Bargello in Florence, was completed by 1580, when it became a fountain figure at the Villa Medici in Rome. Web Gallery of Art · The Met, collection Checked
4 things to know
- Standing on the windMercury balances on a bronze column of air coming from the mouth of Zephyr. Water once flowed over it, making him seem to float. The Met calls the head a wind god, probably Zephyr. Web Gallery of Art · The Met, collection Checked
- Four MercuriesGiambologna’s Mercury is known in four versions whose order is uncertain. His first design, a heavy wingless figure, survives as a model in Bologna. Web Gallery of Art Checked
- A gift for an emperorAn earlier flying Mercury was sent by Cosimo de’ Medici as a diplomatic gift to the Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian II. Web Gallery of Art Checked
- Seen from every sideThe figure is made to be looked at from all angles, balanced precariously on his toes. Web Gallery of Art Checked
Check-in guide
- 📍
- Museo Nazionale del Bargello, Florence, Italy. Web Gallery of Art · Yair Haklai photo, 23 Apr 2019 Checked
- ⛲
- The bronze was first set up as a fountain figure in the gardens of the Villa Medici in Rome in 1580. The Met, collection · Web Gallery of Art Checked
Sightings
- 1580
Fountain figure at the Villa Medici · Web Gallery of Art
- 201416 Jun
Photographed in the Bargello · Francesco Bini
- 201923 Apr
Photographed in the Bargello · Yair Haklai
Every stamp links to its source. Green stamps are dated photographs of the bronze in the Bargello; Yair Haklai’s of 23 April 2019 sets the status stamp. The amber stamp is the 1580 installation at the Villa Medici, as the Web Gallery of Art records it.
On the record
Mercury (front view) by Giambologna
“Mercury balances on a bronze column of air issuing from the mouth of Zephyr, over which flowed water, increasing the illusion that he was floating.”
Mercury
“a Mercury mounted as a fountain figure and installed in the gardens of the Villa Medici in Rome in 1580”
The facts
- Title
- Mercurio volante (Flying Mercury). Yair Haklai photo, 23 Apr 2019 · Francesco Bini photo, 16 Jun 2014 Checked
- Artist
- Giambologna (1529–1608). Web Gallery of Art · Yair Haklai photo, 23 Apr 2019 Checked
- Year
- Completed by 1580. Web Gallery of Art · The Met, collection Checked
- Place
- Museo Nazionale del Bargello, Florence, Italy. Web Gallery of Art · Yair Haklai photo, 23 Apr 2019 Checked
- Medium
- Bronze. Web Gallery of Art · Yair Haklai photo, 23 Apr 2019 Checked
- Height
- 180 cm. Web Gallery of Art Reported
- First setting
- A fountain in the gardens of the Villa Medici, Rome, from 1580. The Met, collection · Web Gallery of Art Checked
- Status
- Photographed in the Bargello on 23 April 2019. Yair Haklai photo, 23 Apr 2019 Checked
- Our photo
- Yair Haklai, 23 April 2019, CC BY-SA 4.0. Yair Haklai photo, 23 Apr 2019 Checked
Related
- When Sculptures Come Alive (12 Photos vol. 3): the SAU collection with Mercury
All sources (5)
Museums and catalogues
- Web Gallery of Art: “Mercury (front view)” by Giambologna. Bronze, 180 cm, Bargello; four versions; completed by 1580 as a Villa Medici fountain figure; Zephyr.
- The Met: “Mercury” (collection entry). The Met’s own small bronze is a later work; its text describes Giambologna’s Villa Medici fountain figure of 1580 and the wind god, probably Zephyr.
Photos
- Wikimedia Commons: Francesco Bini, “Giambologna, mercurio volante, ante 1580”, taken 16 June 2014 in the Bargello.
- Wikimedia Commons: Yair Haklai, “Mercurius by Giambologna-Bargello”, taken 23 April 2019. CC BY-SA 4.0.
Street Art Utopia
- Street Art Utopia: When Sculptures Come Alive (12 Photos vol. 3), 19 October 2026. The SAU post with this photo.
Artwork File · Last checked 19 October 2026 · Certainty labels follow How We Verify Art · All Artwork Files