Erme pendants e spazio architettonico nel mondo romano

Focusing on the category of herms, this paper investigates some of the formal principles that directed sculptural display between the late Hellenistic and the Imperial period. As with full-figure statues, Roman patrons and designers highly appreciated the deliberate pairing of similar versions of the same herm type, allowing them not only to achieve sophisticated decorative effects, but also to em- phasize and multiply the works’ meanings. The development of display strategies relying on pendant and mirror images is therefore paralleled by a corresponding emphasis on symmetry and central perspectives, resulting in an increasing interrelation between sculp- tural decor and architectural space.