42: The Nicholson Hermes

Marking National Archaeology Week 2023, in this episode of Object Matters host Dr Craig Barker is joined by Associate Professor Lesley Beaumont, a classical archaeologist in the School of Humanities, in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at the University of Sydney. Together they discuss one of the most iconic objects in the Chau Chak Wing Museum, the Nicholson Hermes. This Roman marble statue of the 1st century BC or 1st century AD is carved from white marble, the surface of which is deeply weathered through contact with running water. Lesley and Craig discuss archaeology in the 21st century, the Zagora Archaeological Project, Greek and Roman art, the famed sculptor Praxiteles and teaching students in the museum.

Guest: Associate Professor Lesley Beaumont is Associate Professor in the Discipline of Archaeology at the University of Sydney. Prior to taking up her position at the University, she was Assistant Director of the British School at Athens. Her publications include Childhood in Ancient Athens. Iconography and Social History (Routledge: 2012, 2015), and a Routledge Handbook on Children in Antiquity, co-edited with Matthew Dillon and Nicola Harrington. Her current archaeological fieldwork focuses on the Early Iron Age settlement site of Zagora on the Greek island of Andros. She serves as a Council Member of the Australian Archaeological Institute at Athens, and as an Expert Examiner for the Australian Government’s Office for the Arts under the Protection of Movable Cultural Heritage Act 1986.

Host: Dr Craig Barker, Head of Public Engagement, Chau Chak Wing Museum and Director, Paphos Theatre Archaeological Excavations. Follow @DrCraig_B on Twitter and Instagram.

Object details:
The Nicholson Hermes, statue of an unknown man sculpted after Hermes by Praxiteles, white marble, Roman, 1st century BC - 1st century AD, Smyrna, Anatolia.
Donated by the sons of Sir Charles Nicholson 1935 [NM35.120].
View the statue in 3D.