Hermetically Yours

“He built in Rimini a noble temple in honor of Saint Francis, but then filled it with so many pagan works that it seems not a temple of Christians but of infidels”: these words, written by Pope Pius II about Sigismondo Malatesta, illuminate how Rosita Copioli could have fallen in love with the true Mercury in the cathedral of her city. Unlike all other depictions of the god, the Mercury in Rimini evokes the Far East, an idol from Gandhara, a Cambodian apsara. It’s true, apsaras dance while Mercury does not: he stands upright, in a rigid frontal pose. If his appearance is unusual, the instruments he holds are familiar: a lute made of a turtle shell and the caduceus, a symbol of peace. Mercury, the patron god of eloquence, interprets for the gods. Just as the caduceus separates the snakes, halting their fury, so too does speech intervene to calm combatants, ending war and restoring reason.