Vatican Museums

The Directorate of the Vatican Museums and Cultural Heritage is promoting on Tuesday 3 December a study day on the colossal bronze statue of the Hercules Mastai, in the light of the recent restoration intervention carried out with the generous support of the Northwest Chapter of the Patrons of the Arts in the Vatican Museums.

Housed in the Sala Rotonda of the Pio-Clementino Museum, the imposing Roman age (390-370 B.C.) statue has been the object of a long and complex study and restoration project, coordinated by the Department of Greek and Roman Antiquities, and carried out by the Metals and Ceramics Restoration Laboratory in collaboration with the Cabinet of Scientific Research.
The Director, Barbara Jatta, explains, “We have confronted this restoration aware of the exceptional nature of the work, located in the heart of the Pope’s Museums, among the masterpieces of the Pio-Clementino collection of ancient art. Ever since its arrival, the Hercules has occupied a place of honour, in the niche that is the focal point of the Sala Rotonda”.
Almost four metres in height, the gilded bronze colossus stands out as unique in the panorama of ancient statuary. It is not only one of the rare bronze statues that has come down to us virtually intact: it is the largest known bronze statue, and the gilding - of exquisite quality - is still in an exceptionally well-preserved state.

The history of the Hercules Mastai is extraordinary: at the time of its rediscovery at Campo de’ Fiori in Rome in 1864, the work was laid horizontally, like a sleeping giant, inside a pit, covered with travertine slabs, on one of which the letters FCS (Fulgur Conditum Summanium) were engraved. Heracles had therefore been struck by lightning and, in accordance with Roman custom, had been ritually buried.
The Vatican study day will be a valuable opportunity to share with the scientific community the significant and multiple novelties that have emerged in the various phases of analysis and intervention, benefitting from the participation of authoritative voices from the Capitoline Superintendency of Cultural Heritage and the Ministry of Culture - in particular from the Central Institute for Restoration, the Workshop of Semi-Precious Stones - for an extensive exchange of experiences and skills.