Mercury Putting Argus to Sleep - etching - 17.5 x 25.2 cm - Washington DC, NGA

Mercury sits cross-legged against a tree, playing a wind instrument to the reclining Argus in a densely wooded landscape. Between them stands a cow representing the transformed Io, while Mercury’s winged caduceus leans against a rock in the foreground. The giant Argus is depicted in shepherd's clothing, beginning to drift off as sheep and a dog rest nearby.

In Renaissance Neoplatonism and Hermeticism, Mercury (Hermes) represents the divine Logos or reason capable of subduing the unruly senses, symbolized by the hundred eyes of Argus. This myth was frequently interpreted as an allegory for the soul being awakened or lulled by divine harmony and eloquence.