A Loan

Through Henry Morganthau, returning to the U. S. from relief work abroad, Greece, oldest and youngest republic in the world, offered to loan the U. S. "for any length of time the Government may desire it," the most beautiful statue bequeathed to her by antiquity. The statue is Hermes Carrying the Infant Dionysus, the chef d'oeuvre of Praxiteles, famed Greek sculptor of the 4th Century B. C.

The loan was offered by Greece as a mark of esteem for American democracy, but the underlying idea was said to be that "millions of Americans, particularly the younger student generation, may find inspiration for art study in viewing this matchless example of Grecian sculpture, of which reproductions exist in all countries."