Like Cubero’s Apollino (E00805), this sculpture of the young Mercury bearing his caduceus, inspired by the Doryphoros of Polykleitos, was intended for the statue gallery at the Real Casa del Labrador at Aranjuez, and was commissioned by the great Neoclassical sculptor Canova. Other Spanish sculptors working in Rome -Álvarez Cubero, Solá and Campeny- were also involved in the project, which was never completed. Signed and dated.