Mercury the Speed God - J.C. Leyendecker Art Print / Canvas
White borders = 5% of shortest side
Matboards = 2" / 5cm
Framed canvas gaps = 3/8" / 1cm
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About this Artwork
The Speed God Mercury, Joseph Christian Leyendecker's 1907 cover for Collier's Weekly, hangs its true emblem overhead: a caduceus with two serpents coiled tight around a winged staff, painted in flat charcoal-black against the cream sky.
Mercury's herald symbol, inherited from classical mythology, floats untethered above the automobile's fender, a deliberate collision of ancient attribute and combustion-era machinery. American illustration of this period rarely resisted such pairings.
Leyendecker's brushwork keeps the serpents crisp; the figure below dissolves into looser, gestural strokes. Burnt-orange cloth billows from Mercury's shoulder, catching wind that the caduceus itself seems immune to, fixed and watchful above the chaos. His profile turns slightly toward the viewer, cheek shadowed under a laurel-white cap.
Already recognized for his Arrow Collar campaigns, Leyendecker brought commercial fluency to mythological subject matter, making Mercury legible to a mass readership instead of a gallery few. Cropped inside the octagon's black border, the composition holds its arrow-straight energy until the balloon's basket, small and distant. With Mercury's raised leg, sandal strap taut, becoming the cover's true hinge point. Joining ancient myth to the machine age's ground-level velocity, wheel spoke and orange fold locked in a single frozen instant of forward motion.
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Your new treasure gets produced after you purchase at print labs across the USA, UK, EU & AUS. Significantly minimising landfill waste by only making things people actually want.
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After you purchase, expect your new treasure to be produced, quality checked, packed with care and handed over to trusted shipping carriers within 72-96 hours on average.
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Cost
Free shipping to Continental United States, Canada, UK, EU, Australia, New Zealand & more: see full list here.
Production + Delivery =
USA: 4-9 days • Canada: 5-12 days • UK: 4-9 days • EU: 5-10 days • AUS: 4-9 days • NZ: 5-12 days • Rest of the world: 3-4 weeks
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Sent carbon neutral at no extra charge.
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