Cartoon for Mercury 

Elihu Vedder created this cartoon for Mercury using graphite and gouache. Here, Mercury, or Hermes, is adorned with winged sandals and a caduceus, symbols of his role as a swift messenger between gods and mortals. Consider the caduceus: two snakes entwined around a staff, a symbol deeply rooted in ancient mythology and associated with commerce, negotiation, and medicine. We can trace its origins back to ancient Greece, where it was associated with Hermes, a figure of mediation and communication. It then evolved into an emblem for healers, alchemists, and merchants, its form and meaning molded by different eras and societal needs. Note the emotional resonance here. The figure embodies the human desire to bridge the earthly and divine, an impulse present in our collective consciousness. The continuous evolution and adaptation of Mercury’s symbols reveal a recurring theme of human desire for connection, understood and reinterpreted through cultural shifts and generational memory.