Mercury

ca. 1539

Hans Sebald Beham German, 1500-1550

Not On View

Image Only Image + Details All Images High Resolution TIFF Metadata

About the Artwork

Please note: This section is empty
Markings

Please note: This section is empty

This section contains information about signatures, inscriptions and/or markings an object may have.
Provenance

Please note: This section is empty

Provenance is a record of an object's ownership. We are continually researching and updating this information to show a more accurate record and to ensure that this object was ethically and legally obtained.

For more information on provenance and its important function in the museum, please visit:
Provenance page
Exhibition History

Please note: This section is empty

The exhibition history of a number of objects in our collection only begins after their acquisition by the museum, and may reflect an incomplete record.

We welcome your feedback for correction and/or improvement.
Suggest Feedback
Published References

Please note: This section is empty

We regularly update our object record as new research and findings emerge, and we welcome your feedback for correction and/or improvement.
Suggest Feedback
Catalogue Raisonné

Please note: This section is empty

A catalogue raisonné is an annotated listing of artworks created by an artist across different media.
Credit Line for Reproduction

Please note: This section is empty

The credit line includes information about the object, such as the artist, title, date, and medium. Also listed is its ownership, the manner in which it was acquired, and its accession number. This information must be cited alongside the object whenever it is shown or reproduced.
Audio Transcript

Please note: This section is empty

About the Artwork

Title Mercury

Artwork Date ca. 1539

Artist Hans Sebald Beham

Life Dates 1500-1550

Nationality Please note: Definitions for nationality may vary significantly, depending on chronology and world events. Some definitions include: Belonging to a people having a common origin based on a geography and/or descent and/or tradition and/or culture and/or religion and/or language, or sharing membership in a legally defined nation. German

Culture Please note: Cultures may be defined by the language, customs, religious beliefs, social norms, and material traits of a group. ----------

Medium Engraving printed in black ink on laid paper

Dimensions Sheet (trimmed within plate mark): 1 3/4 × 1 1/8 inches (4.4 × 2.9 cm)

Classification Prints

Department Prints, Drawings & Photographs

Credit Founders Society Purchase, William H. Murphy Fund

Accession Number This unique number is assigned to an individual artwork as part of the cataloguing process at the time of entry into the permanent collection. Most frequently, accession numbers begin with the year in which the artwork entered the museum’s holdings. For example, 2008.3 refers to the year of acquisition and notes that it was the 3rd of that year. The DIA has a few additional systems—no longer assigned—that identify specific donors or museum patronage groups. 35.37.6

Markings

Signed Signed, in plate, upper left: [artist's monogram]

Inscriptions Inscribed, in plate, upper left edge: 6 Inscribed, upper right: MERCVRIVS | [Mercury planetary symbol] Inscribed, in plate, lower left and lower right: [Virgo and Gemini zodiacal symbols]

Marks Stamp, in black, verso: A. Firmin-Didot (Lugt 119) Stamp, in brown, verso: A. Freiherr von Lanna (Lugt 2773) Stamp, in brown, verso: P. J. Sachs (Lugt 2091) Stamp, in black, verso: L (Lugt 1702)

Provenance

A. Firmin-Didot (Paris, France);
A. Freiherr von Lanna (Prague);
Paul J. Sachs (Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA).
1935-present, purchase by the Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, Michigan, USA)

For more information on provenance, please visit:

Provenance page

Exhibition History

Please note: This section is empty

The exhibition history of a number of objects in our collection only begins after their acquisition by the museum, and may reflect an incomplete record.

We welcome your feedback for correction and/or improvement.

Suggest Feedback

Published References

Please note: This section is empty

We regularly update our object record as new research and findings emerge, and we welcome your feedback for correction and/or improvement.

Suggest Feedback

Catalogue Raisoneé

Please note: This section is empty

Credit Line for Reproduction

Hans Sebald Beham, Mercury, ca. 1539, engraving printed in black ink on laid paper. Detroit Institute of Arts, Founders Society Purchase, William H. Murphy Fund, 35.37.6.

Luna

Hans Sebald Beham

ca. 1539

Jupiter

Hans Sebald Beham

ca. 1539

Mars

Hans Sebald Beham

ca. 1539

Saturn

Hans Sebald Beham

ca. 1539

Sol

Hans Sebald Beham

ca. 1539

Venus

Hans Sebald Beham

ca. 1539

Matthew and Saint John

Hans Sebald Beham

1520

Pentecost

Boucicaut Master

between 1415 and 1420