Hermaphrodite as Caryatid

Unknown artist

The hermaphrodite (a person both male and female) was designed for the decoration of the Hall of Constantine at the Vatican. The yoke on the shoulders refers to the motto of Pope Leo X, who commissioned the work: ‘For my yoke is easy and my burden is light’. An androgynous figure was viewed in the Renaissance as embodying the divine, combining the beauty of both genders.