MEDIUM PRIORITY PROJECT

This statue was discovered in 1785 in a Pozzolan quarry along the Tiber River five miles from Porta Portese. The work was originally portraying Cautes, one of Mithras' attendants, and its forearms were modified during restoration in the 18th century. It now depicts a young Parides holding an apple in his left hand, and his right-hand holds the bow to shoot the fatal arrow at Achilles.

In 1789 the sculpture, owned by Thomas Jenkins, a well-known antiquarian of the time, was sold by him to Pius VI. In the Vatican, papal archaeologists, such as Ennio Quirino Visconti, noticing the sublime executive quality of the work, decided to place it inside the precious Cabinet of Masks.

In 1797 the statue was part of the works ceded to the French state by the Treaty of Tolentino and was then displayed in the Laocoon room of the Musée Napoleon in Paris to return to the Vatican in 1816. 
 
The altar base is the cinerary altar, used for the ashes of the deceased, of Stlakkia, erected by her husband, Valerios Polemon.

TOTAL COST: € 12.602,69 ($ 12,317.87)

Restorers found 67 inserts and two restoration reworkings corresponding to the left forearm and right wrist.
The work was used as a model for casts, clearly visible from the numerous graphite marks on the front, inside of the cloak, and on the right side. Traces at different heights are visible on the back of the work, indicating that the portions that served as models for the casts were not always the same.

Also, in pencil on the back were several inscriptions of an anthropic nature, not recognizable.
Erosion phenomena were visible in some areas, such as the upper part of the left arm, the end of the tunic, the right knee, and part of the cloak on the right forearm.

• Cleaning with soft brushes and a high-density sponge

• Intervention with laser equipment

• Filling the cracks with mortar made of marble powder and slaked lime