Sleeping Hermaphroditus facts for kids

The Sleeping Hermaphroditus is a famous ancient marble sculpture. It shows a figure from Greek myths lying down. In 1620, a famous Italian artist named Gian Lorenzo Bernini carved the soft-looking mattress the statue rests on today.

This sculpture was made a long time ago in Ancient Rome. Its style was influenced by older Greek art, especially from the Hellenistic period. Many copies of this type of sculpture were made back then. This shows how popular it was. The original Sleeping Hermaphroditus was found in Rome. It was quickly bought by a rich collector, Cardinal Scipione Borghese. Later, it was sold to the French and moved to The Louvre in Paris, where you can see it now.

Experts believe the Sleeping Hermaphroditus is a good copy made in early Imperial Rome. It might be based on an older bronze statue from around 155 BC. This original bronze was even mentioned by an ancient writer named Pliny.

Discovery of the Borghese Sculpture

This ancient sculpture was found in the early 1600s. Workers dug it up near the Baths of Diocletian in Rome. This happened either when they were building a church (around 1608) or planting trees.

How Cardinal Borghese Got It

The sculpture was given to Cardinal Scipione Borghese. He was a big fan of art. In return, the Cardinal helped the church. He gave them his architect, Giovanni Battista Soria. He also paid for the church's front, but that was sixteen years later. The Cardinal even made a special room for the sculpture in his new Villa Borghese. He called it the "Room of the Hermaphrodite."

Bernini's Amazing Mattress

In 1620, Gian Lorenzo Bernini added his touch to the sculpture. He was a young artist who worked for Cardinal Scipione. Bernini carved the marble mattress that the figure lies on. He was paid sixty scudi for his work. The mattress looks so real that visitors often want to touch it to see if it's soft!

Moving to the Louvre

In 1807, the Sleeping Hermaphroditus was sold. It was bought from Prince Camillo Borghese. He owned the Borghese Collection at the time. The sculpture was then moved to The Louvre museum in Paris. It even inspired a poem by Algernon Charles Swinburne in 1863.

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  A close-up view of the sculpture's face.

Other Ancient Copies

The Sleeping Hermaphroditus was so popular that many copies were made.

Later Discoveries

Another ancient copy of the sculpture was found in 1781. This one now sits in the Galleria Borghese in Rome. A third Roman marble copy was found in 1880. This happened when Rome was being rebuilt as the capital of a united Italy. You can see this copy at the Museo Palazzo Massimo Alle Terme. It is part of the National Museum of Rome.

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  A detailed view of another ancient copy.

Copies in Other Museums

You can find even more ancient copies of the Sleeping Hermaphroditus in other famous museums. These include the Uffizi in Florence, the Vatican Museums in Vatican City, and the Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg.

Modern Copies

Many artists have made copies of the Sleeping Hermaphroditus since the Renaissance. They used different materials and sizes.

Famous Modern Replicas

King Philip IV of Spain had a full-size bronze copy made. His artist Velázquez ordered it. This copy is now in the Prado Museum. Another marble copy was made for the Versailles in France. The sculptor Martin Carlier [fr] created it. The original sculpture even influenced Velázquez's famous painting, the Rokeby Venus.

Smaller Versions

Smaller bronze copies were also made. One was created and signed by Giovanni Francesco Susini. It is now in the Metropolitan Museum. Another small copy was made from ivory by François Duquesnoy. An English writer named John Evelyn bought it in Rome in the 1640s.

Recent Artworks

In 2010, American artist Barry X Ball made a life-size copy. He used black marble from Belgium for the figure and white marble for the base. This modern copy was put up for sale in New York in 2016. It was expected to sell for a high price.

See also

• List of works by Gian Lorenzo Bernini