- For the piano piece by Iannis Xenakis, see Herma (Xenakis).
A
herma (, pl.
hermai), commonly in English
herm, is a sculpture with a head, and perhaps a torso, above a plain, usually squared lower section, on which
male genitals may also be carved at the appropriate height. The form originated in
Ancient Greece, and was adopted by the Romans, and revived at the Renaissance in the form of
term figures and
Atlantes.