Hermes statue gains neglected fame<\/p>\n
Old Batavia has been home to many magnificent statues,
\nsculptures and plaques. Like the fate of many old buildings, many
\nof them have been poorly treated and even destroyed. The Hermes
\nstatue in Harmoni was lucky to evade this fate and share the luck
\nof Leonardo Da Vinci's Mona Lisa. The 94-year-old bronze statue
\nis currently receiving excellent care after it was listed as
\n\"missing\" and then returned. This is the fifth article in a
\nseries about old Jakarta to run in Saturday editions of The
\nJakarta Post.<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Prior to going \"missing\" on Aug. 20, only a few
\nmotorists and passersby ever took the time to take a close look
\nat the two-meter Greek god Hermes statue on the top of a bridge
\nrail at a side of the busy Harmoni crossroads in Central Jakarta.<\/p>\n
So many of us thought that this art deco style piece was only
\nabout 30 to 40 centimeters high.<\/p>\n
Tourist guides and travel agents here failed to introduce
\nHermes, erected in 1905 during the Dutch colonial era, to
\nvisitors to the capital.<\/p>\n
Of the relatively few people that have inspected the statue --
\nwhich is under the protection, together with the bridge, of the
\nJakarta administration -- only a handful of them have learned
\nthat this near-nude bronze statue has changed colors several
\ntimes for unknown reasons.<\/p>\n
For New Yorkers, the Harmoni Hermes -- which protects its
\nmodesty with a leaf covering the pubic area -- has similarities
\nwith a decorative plaque of a gilded Mercury at the Rockefeller
\nCenter.<\/p>\n
A keen art deco enthusiast or a historian might easily see the
\ndistinct differences of the two works.<\/p>\n
Wings<\/p>\n
Both objects illustrate an unclothed male adult with \"wings\"
\non the ankles, but with slightly different accessories.<\/p>\n
But the Harmoni Hermes holds a \"stick\" in the left hand with
\nthe right one pointing toward the heavens. Many have said the
\noriginal item held by the statue's left hand is missing, either
\nbroken or stolen.<\/p>\n
According to the books on mythology, Hermes was the Greek god
\nof commerce, eloquence, invention, travel and theft who served as
\nherald and messenger of the other gods. Mercury was the Roman god
\nof commerce, eloquence, travel, cunning and theft who served as a
\nmessenger to other gods.<\/p>\n
Like many of the city's protected assets, information on
\nHermes and the bridge is as rare as the statue itself.<\/p>\n
The only available data from the city administration stated
\nthat Harmoni's statue and bridge was built by the Dutch colonial
\ngovernment.<\/p>\n
The bridge was designed to connect the area divided by the
\nCiliwung River to facilitate traders and passersby of the time.
\nThe Hermes statue, standing on a spherical mold on the center of
\nthe bridge's fence, was meant to bring luck to traders and secure
\npassersby.<\/p>\n
Harmoni was the main thoroughfare for both traders and people
\nheading to downtown Kota, the then business center of Batavia.<\/p>\n
According to Candrian Attahiyat, head of the archeology
\nsection of the city museum and restoration agency, Hermes
\nrecorded no significant historical moments.<\/p>\n
\"It's then categorized as a protected item by the city
\nadministration only due to its rare status, because there is only
\none Hermes in this country.<\/p>\n
The statue is indeed one of the city's accessories,\" Candrian
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
The statue's history of not being on a site which recorded
\ncolonial historical events saved it from the late president
\nSukarno's agenda to demolish Hermes.<\/p>\n
In accordance with the spirit of nationalism to crush any
\ntraces of the colonialists, the country's first president during
\nhis first years of presidency campaigned for the destruction of a
\nwide range of Dutch-built statues.<\/p>\n
The campaign included the destruction of the J.P. Coen statue
\nin Banteng Square and a beautifully designed statue at the former
\nWilhemina park, currently the site of the Istiqlal Grand Mosque.<\/p>\n
Twin<\/p>\n
A widely circulated story among Jakartans revealed that the
\nHarmoni crossroads were actually the home to twin Hermes, each
\nplaced on the Harmoni bridge rails.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, the story was only able to be verified
\nrecently.<\/p>\n
\"Even photos taken in the 1920s did not show any other Hermes
\nat the site,\" Candrian said.<\/p>\n
He said Hermes was original gilded with green bronze.<\/p>\n
He said he had no idea why the city museum agency had changed
\nthe color to suit their own taste.<\/p>\n
\"Once Hermes was painted black, with the legs white, which
\nthey said was to illustrate his shoes,\" Candrian said with
\ndisapproval.<\/p>\n
\"Then it was gilded a gold color, just like a trophy.\"<\/p>\n
Cleaning and refurbishment of the statue was not high on the
\nagenda. It was performed at random, when the officials remembered
\nthat it was time to polish Hermes up, Candrian said.<\/p>\n
\"Usually the project took more than one day,\" he explained.<\/p>\n
The recent controversial absence of the statue was to prove a
\ngreat moment for Hermes. After being neglected for decades, the
\nnews attracted public and media attention.<\/p>\n
Three days after going \"missing\", the city public works agency
\nsuddenly claimed to have saved the statue from falling into the
\nCiliwung River. The agency then returned the statue to the city
\nparks agency, which later transferred it to the Jakarta History
\nMuseum in West Jakarta for temporary safekeeping.<\/p>\n
The Aug. 20 absence was the first time Hermes left his
\npartner: the Harmoni bridge rail.<\/p>\n
As of this Saturday, he has been away from his original home
\nfor 23 days and still has no idea whether he'll meet his partner
\nagain or not, since the city administration has plans to replace
\nhim with a replica! (bsr\/ind)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/hermes-statue-gains-neglected-fame-1447893297",
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