Fragment of a Roman marble statue depicting a sleeping Hermaphrodite. The two-sex deity is naked and leaning on their crossed arms.
The object is dated to the 1st-2nd century CE and is a copy of the original from the 2nd-century BCE. It is currently located in the Louvre.
The fragment of the sculpture was discovered in 1608 near the Baths of Diocletian in Rome. In 1619, it was decided to sculpt the rest of the body, for which a certain Bernini was responsible, and the renovation was done by David Larique.
Greek mythology tells that Hermaphroditus – the son of Hemes and Aphrodite – rejected the love advances of the nymph Salmacis. Unable to accept the rejection, she asked Zeus to join their bodies into one. In this way, one bisexual creature was created with male sexual organs and the sensual curves of a woman.
