Mercury, Rochester, New York
I've just returned from spending a few days in Upstate New York where this sculpture of Mercury - the Roman god of commerce - is a landmark in the city of Rochester. Made in 1881 of riveted bronze plates, the statue was originally atop Kimball's Tobacco Factory, which later became the City Hall Annex and even later a branch of the Rochester Public Library. (I don't think we recycle buildings the way we used to!) The statue was removed in the early 1950s when the Kimball's building was torn down.
Its second life atop a newer building
For more than two decades the 21-foot, 700-pound statue was kept in storage. Then in 1974, it was placed atop the structure now known as Aqueduct Building, one block north of its original location.
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46 comments:
Fantastic!
Have a nice week:)
Wonderful statue! Glad it reappeared.
That is a pretty interesting biography for the statue. I am surprised by the artist's decision to leave the plates' welding showing without grinding it down. That is why they are artists and I am not . . .
this is great. I am glad they found use for him again. We shouldn't ;ose these historic items. good info too. MB
Please that he found a home again, though quite why it took so long in storage before they could find somewhere suitable beats me. I recognised him, partly because he features on the badge of the Royal Signals and I served in the British military for 8 years.
Mercury is magnificent!
Léia
Hard to believe this impressive heavy weight with wings would be kept in storage for such a long time. No doubt it takes a strong building to hold such a statue. I‘m glad it is out where it belongs ... high above the city crowds!
I'm glad it was not destroyed. It's a lovely piece!
It is good that the statue was preserved, even tho it was hidden from public view for so long.
Oh gosh, I think I am sleeping, when I read Mercury I thought it was a statue of Freddy Mercury and wondered that it didn't look like him ! Lol !
I love the statue of mercury. Fascinating post.
Positively makes me want to fly!
Lovely photo of this cool statue! Great colors and your exposure was right on!
Obviously, you have a mercurial world! (I'll let your look that up to see what it means. Heh, heh! Of course, if you're smarter than I am, you already know!)
Beautiful statue!
Such a beautiful statue and I'm so glad it has been returned to "public life"! Interesting information and I always enjoy that as it gives me a chance to learn something I didn't know! Hope you have a wonderful week!
Sylvia
Its a beautiful statue, great idea to be viewed by the public.
Mercury and his tale a favorite of mine. Love this one.
That's a great sculpture. I'm so glad it's on display again. Great photos for today.
A great statue with a story, I'm glad it has a new location.
He has quite a history, and stands proudly watching over the city.
What an interesting history and I'm so glad that it's not still languishing away in storage -- it's too lovely and with too much history to hide. Thanks for sharing.
That's very cool. I love the patina of the scupture and am impressed by your research to get the story behind the statue.
Glad they got it out of storage.
Very interesting post for MWT. Thanks!
-- K
Kay, Alberta, Canada
An Unfittie's Guide to Adventurous Travel
A beautiful sculpture like that has to be out there to be seen.
A beautiful sculpture like that has to be out there to be seen.
I think it wonderful that this statue was given a second home. It really is a pretty statue. Thanks for all the information about it.
I love how the plates have been left visible! Glad that this wonderful piece has been saved.
I am pleased the statue was taken out of storage and given a new place for all to see. It is well worth seeing.
Love the sculpture. Love the zoom!
Mercury sure must be one busy bee!
Good it is on display, looks grand.
Great statue and nice photos!
one of our power energy company is called Mercury, with this logo. Now I know where it got it's name from.
What a cool statue!
Great shots of this statue. Nice to read the history behind it also.
Hmmmm I love him, but I am not at all sure about his new resting place being in sympathy!
very well preserved! It is a beautiful statue.
It's just lovely sitting up there. All too easy to miss though, if you don't look up.
How wonderful!
God of commerce? Did they have one for everything?
At least they put it back to use, that's good.
Beautiful detail photo, nice statue
Have a nice week,
Greetings, Bram
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I didn't know (or remember) Mercury was the god of commerce... Unique sculpt; nice it survived the many moves and the period of hibernation. Super shots, too, EG.
Nice for Mercury to be displayed again in the fresh air.
Oh, cool statue. I am glad they recycled it.
What a great idea! I wish they did so around here too.
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