Hermes placed at Historical Museum

Hermes placed at Historical Museum

JAKARTA (JP): The Hermes statue, famous after being reported
missing from its place on Harmoni Bridge, was placed in the back
yard of the Jakarta Historical Museum on Jl. Taman Fatahillah in
West Jakarta on Saturday.

The placement of the statue, which portrays the Greek god
Hermes, involved scores of workers after the completion of its
restoration a day earlier.

With a hoist hooked to four bamboo poles, the statue was put
on a one-meter concrete foundation with its back facing the
museum.

"It's placed in that position so visitors who want to take
pictures of the statue have a good background," said sculpture
Arsono, who was appointed by the city administration to chair the
restoration work of the statue and make a replica of it.

The restored 95-year-old statue now has two wings and two
snakes on its staff.

Arsono said it was copied from a statue with a similar name,
believed to be the Hermes original, in Italy.

The two meter statue, stated in official documents to have
been erected in 1905 at Harmoni Bridge near the Presidential
Palace in Central Jakarta, was reported missing on Aug. 22 last
year and has drawn public attention since then.

The city public works agency announced three days later that
it had saved the statue which started tilting towards Ciliwung
River which passes under Harmoni Bridge.

The administration then decided to make a Hermes replica worth
Rp 135 million.

Arsono said that he decided to change the golden color of the
statue to bronze.

"We found out later that bronze was its original color," he
said.(ind)