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The Vice-Chancellor's Garden is a small courtyard garden that is next to the Vice-Chancellor's office, adjacent to the Quadrangle.This garden is in the back, right hand corner of the Quad through an arch. Many bequests to the University are pieces of art, and a few of these are located in the garden. One of these is a bronze Mercury (Roman God) or Hermes (Greek God) statue, facing inwards to the diagonal path. This statue is partnered with the other bronze Greek-inspired statue hidden in the shrubbery of the same garden.



The height of the statue (including its plinth) would be around three metres tall. The body of the figure itself is in a slightly smaller scale than real humans. There is a plaque attached to the plinth that reads, "This bronze figure was presented to the university in 1952 by the trustees of the G. C. Dwyer estate". The figure seems to be in a classical style and stance, balancing on the head of a lion with wings on his heels and wings on his helmet. There is a scroll or small staff in one of his hands.

The estate that donated this art is that of George Cornish Dwyer, who lived from 1846-1929. We can gather a picture of his affairs from his probate in the Sydney Morning Herald, and the City of Sydney Council archives on property. These archives tell us that he owned numerous properties on George Street and Harris St, including the corner block where George meets Harris. Among these properties are a factory, and a dance studio, and Hoyts cinema. His will outlines that his estate of £107,132 was left to his wife and children. From this information we can tell that he was a wealthy property developer living and working in the area around the university at the end of the 19th Century.

The position that the statue is posed in, and the wings on his helmet and hat tell us that the bronze figure is a common representation of Mercury and Hermes, the god of trade, eloquence, and the messenger of the Gods.

There is no evidence that these bronze statues were created for the University. In the early 1900s, statues of this size would have been used to decorate the outside of a prestigious building, and George St would have housed the most prestigious buildings because it is one of the main streets of the city. In an article about the architecture of the Regent Theatre (a cinema that was next door to one of Dwyer's properties) the last picture show large domes on top of the building with extremely similar statues on top of them:. This might be where these Grecian statues have come from, since their patina is quite developed for their age, and they should not be so weathered from living in the relatively sheltered garden.

The tone of the plaque is direct and brusque. The text's purpose is to provide the basic information of its existence, and pay respect to the givers of the gift. There is no effort to relay the donator's relation to the University or any information about the creation of the statue. Therefore, the author's intention is to encourage the enjoyment of the statue without the need for further knowledge. The intended audience of the statue in its current form is the student, teachers, and visitors of the University. It is placed in the garden to provide atmosphere and decoration to the campus. In its original form, its purpose would have been the same, but the audience would have been the greater population of Sydney in the early 1900s.

The choice to recreate a Grecian statue in the early 1900s is to provide the building (and now, University) with an image of sophistication and refinement. The Ancient Greeks provide this image because they were ahead of their time in their creation of society, philosophy, mathematics, and humanities. Western society idolizes ancient Greece and Rome for these reasons. The choice of Mercury has a secondary purpose. He is the God of commerce and financial gain; his placement on the eaves of a commercial building would have been to bring prosperity to the owners and workers.

A bronze, Grecian God in a hidden courtyard of a sandstone university definitely provides the feeling of sophistication and refinement that the image was built to achieve. Even though its original purpose probably was not to adorn a university garden, its message remains the same. Despite the shortness of the text on the plaque, G. C. Dwyer is effectively commemorated, since his name is closely connected with this feeling of reverence towards ancient civilisations and knowledge-seeking.

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