no. vi.
Germanicus.

This fine statue has been sup-
posed to represent Germanicus,
son of Drusus and Antonia. The
style of the hair indicates indeed a
Roman personage; but it cannot be
this prince, for the medals and
other monuments we have of him
represent him very differently.
A more attentive examination of

―188―

this figure discovers an analogy
with that of Mercury; the ex-
tended position of the right arm,
the chlamys thrown over the left,
which holds the caduceus, and rests
on a tortoise, consecrated to this
god as the inventor of the harp,
favour this idea. But a more rea-
sonable conjecture may perhaps be
admitted, that, under these forms,
and with the attributes of the god
of eloquence, the ingenious artist
has pourtrayed a Roman orator,
celebrated for his success in the
rostrum.