L’ordine architettonico a erme: prototipi antichi e interpretazioni rinascimentali in architettura e nelle arti visive

There are several examples in the ancient world that testify to the use of herms as free standing, isolated elements: they were placed along crossroads or in gardens, used as votive statues or funerary stones and, within this function, represented in the reliefs of sarcophagi and decorative slabs. Starting from the final years of the 15th century, herms, or Termini, began to be first represented, then actually used, with the singular role of static support, thus achieving the definition of a real new architectural order: a particular type of use that seems to be an exceptional fact even in antiquity. This essay presents possible ancient prototypes of this invention and explores the first interpretations given during the Renaissance.