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Museum Photography

This Roman bronze statuette of Mercury was found buried in a cemetery ditch just outside the walls of the town. The god is shown with his traditionally associated animals, the ram, tortoise and cockerel. Mercury was the protector of flocks and herds, and the ram, a fertility symbol, refers to this. The cockerel, herald of the new day, symbolises his role as messenger to the gods, and the tortoise refers to his invention of the lyre, using a tortoise shell as the sounding box. Mercury was also the patron of commerce and marketplaces, and of skills and trade, also of thieves, and here he carries a moneybag in his right hand. He was the guide to travellers, including the dead journeying to the underworld. This statue also had a miniature silver torc round his neck, a Celtic symbol of power and status.

120 transparency

Jennifer Golding

1) Photo Studio

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Verulamium Museum