Hercules Mastai

Artist: Unknown

Date: II-III century A.D.

Classification: Statue

Dimensions: 383 cm

Materials: Gilded bronze

Adopted By: The Northwest Chapter

Total Cost: 100,000

Description

This colossal bronze-gilded statue was found in 1864 under the courtyard of Palazzo Pio Righetti in Campo de’ Fiori in the area of the ancient theater of Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus. It was donated to Pope Pius IX (Mastai). At the moment of the retrieval of the work, the statue was horizontally inside a pit, covered by travertine slabs with the engraved letters: FCS, or F(ulgur) C(onditum) S(ummanium). Lightning struck the statue, and it underwent a ritual burial according to the custom of the Romans. Pietro Tenerani extensively restored the statue with additions made mainly in plaster. A young Hercules leans on the club with the apples of the Hesperides in his left hand. Perhaps a model of the Scuola Attica (390-370 B.C.) inspired the work. Scholars previously dated it between the end of the I and beginning of the III century A.D.

State of Preservation

The restoration of this monumental work is very complex because the structure and size (almost 4 meters high) of this colossal bronze is from early the II-III century A.D.

Restoration Procedures

The intervention aims to accomplish conservation and aesthetic restoration. Restorers will clean the gilded surface of the bronze and verify the superimposed layers. They will then consolidate and revise the previous integrations and add final protection. An in-depth scientific investigation campaign, which included checking the static nature of the sculpture, was previously carried out by the Scientific Research Laboratory during the year 2020.

Detail

Adopted By:

The Northwest Chapter

Patrons:

Rick and Lisa Altig

Inventory N°: 252

Artist: Unknown

Date: II-III century A.D.

Dimensions: 383 cm

Materials: Gilded bronze

Wishbook year: 2021

Statue
Unknown
II-III century A.D.
Gilded bronze

Total Cost

100,000

Share Project
01

Final Restoration Report - Hercules Mastai

Hercules Mastai Final Restoration 1Hercules Mastai Final Restoration 3Hercules Mastai Final Restoration 4

Over the past few months, the restoration of the monumental statue of Hercules Mastai involved several interventions that included:

  • Cleaning of the surfaces
  • Preparation of casts and resin copies of the nineteenth-century reconstructions
  • Removal of the nineteenth-century gilded plaster fillings
  • Selection of suitable mixtures for new structural and aesthetic reconstructions
  • Refinement of mechanical and chemical cleaning of surfaces
  • Casting of ankles, resin copies, and removal of historical plaster prototypes
  • Cleaning of metal surfaces and rust conversion of iron elements
  • Creation of a resin copy of the leaf and lower abdomen and gilding tests of the copies were made
  • Removal of nineteenth-century stucco work on the face
  • Selection of a mixture chemically inert to bronze, and stable over time, for making the new grouts
  • Removal of nineteenth-century stucco work, detail at left gluteus

The creation of suitable surface protection is currently being studied.

02

II Restoration Update - Hercules Mastai

Hercules Mastai - During RestorationHercules Mastai's Foot - During RestorationHercules Mastai's legs - During Restoration

The restoration project of the monumental statue in gilded bronze, the Hercules Mastai, of the Vatican Museums is an ongoing development. The chemical cleaning operations of the surfaces are on their way to completion. At the same time, restorers carry out mechanical cleaning operations to remove the cohesive concretions (probably silicates) on the entire surface of the gilding. These operations allow restorers to return the legibility to the original surfaces and identify the traces of bronze with greater ease.

The indications provided by the X-ray images defined the fractures of the bronze at the ankles, previously covered by nineteenth-century plaster reconstructions. Next, execution of the cast and copy will soon be made in a two-component acrylic resin. Restorers will reposition them with a reversible anchor system, an analogous design made for the cover and leaf. The 19th-century integrations will be removed and preserved in the storehouse. This occasion will make it possible to conduct a rust intervention on the pivots of the supporting structure and then proceed with the protection and chromatic agreement of the surface

03

Restoration Update - Hercules Mastai

Restoration Update - Hercules Mastai ExcavationHercules Mastai ExcavationRestoration Update - Hercules Mastai Details

August 8, 1864: a bronze finger emerges from the earth, and then a hand

August 31, 1864: at the depth of 8-9 meters - at 3.30 m. from the ancient level - the entire statue is brought to light, the works are conducted by the architect Luigi Gabet

"It was found on the occasion of certain excavations that the knight Righetti ordered in the courtyard of his palace, to lay the new foundations" (La Civiltà Cattolica. Anno XV, 1864, p. 731)

September 24, 1864: the statue is freed and suspended with a wooden scaffold

"I saw this statue resurrected from its tomb, raised using ropes, screws, and winches - all around commoners, workers, full of interest and cheerful gravity-a true Roman scene."

(F. Gregorovius, Diari romani 1852-1874, ed. 1992, p. 291)

October 1864: the statue is placed in a special room of the Palace and on October 6 it is inspected by Pietro Ercole Visconti and Pietro Tenerani.

January 9, 1865: Pius IX's visit formalizes the transfer to the Museums. Righetti receives 50,000 scudi and other gifts.

January 12, 1865: Pietro Ercole Visconti gives news of the discovery at the Pontifical Academy and proposes to call it the Mastai Ercole.

January 31, 1865: the statue is transferred to the Vatican, where it is restored by Tenerani.

April 1866: located in the Sala Rotonda

«… It is made of bronze with heavy gilding and is 3.83 meters high. It represents the young Hercules, who held in his right hand the club, of which several pieces have been found, and in his left hand the apples of the Hesperides, which are now missing; the skin of the lion has been found under the back of the statue, but its original place was on the left arm, from which it hung up to a little beyond the knee... The right arm hangs along the body, to which it is joined using a prop; nevertheless, according to the attitude of the hand, the club cannot have touched the ground but seems to be suspended in the air. The feet have detached from the legs: one of these, as well as the base of the statue, is still missing. There is the lack of the skull, that it seems almost cut for a crown to begin...There is a breakup of the bronze, a defect of the fusion, to the top of the head, together with the crown, it must have had another inserted piece..." (P.E. Visconti 1864)

The statue is similar to models of the first decades of the fourth century BC.

It was executed in Roman times, various chronologies were proposed:

  • End of the first century AD. (Domitian restoration)
  • Second half of the second century AD 
  • Beginning of the third century AD (rest. Septimius Severus)
  • End of the III century A.D. (rest. Diocletian/Massimian)
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Hercules Mastai

Details

Adopted by: The Northwest Chapter

Patrons: Rick and Lisa Altig

Inventory: 252

Artist: Unknown

Date: II-III century A.D.

Classification: Statue

Materials: Gilded bronze

Dimensions: 383 cm

Department: Greek and Roman Antiquities

Laboratory: Metals & Ceramics, Scientific Research

Wishbook year: 2021

Description

This colossal bronze-gilded statue was found in 1864 under the courtyard of Palazzo Pio Righetti in Campo de’ Fiori in the area of the ancient theater of Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus. It was donated to Pope Pius IX (Mastai). At the moment of the retrieval of the work, the statue was horizontally inside a pit, covered by travertine slabs with the engraved letters: FCS, or F(ulgur) C(onditum) S(ummanium). Lightning struck the statue, and it underwent a ritual burial according to the custom of the Romans. Pietro Tenerani extensively restored the statue with additions made mainly in plaster. A young Hercules leans on the club with the apples of the Hesperides in his left hand. Perhaps a model of the Scuola Attica (390-370 B.C.) inspired the work. Scholars previously dated it between the end of the I and beginning of the III century A.D.

State of Preservation

The restoration of this monumental work is very complex because the structure and size (almost 4 meters high) of this colossal bronze is from early the II-III century A.D.

Restoration Procedures

The intervention aims to accomplish conservation and aesthetic restoration. Restorers will clean the gilded surface of the bronze and verify the superimposed layers. They will then consolidate and revise the previous integrations and add final protection. An in-depth scientific investigation campaign, which included checking the static nature of the sculpture, was previously carried out by the Scientific Research Laboratory during the year 2020.

Media

Hercules Mastai

Hercules Mastai

Restorations Update: Final Restoration Report - Hercules Mastai

Over the past few months, the restoration of the monumental statue of Hercules Mastai involved several interventions that included:

  • Cleaning of the surfaces
  • Preparation of casts and resin copies of the nineteenth-century reconstructions
  • Removal of the nineteenth-century gilded plaster fillings
  • Selection of suitable mixtures for new structural and aesthetic reconstructions
  • Refinement of mechanical and chemical cleaning of surfaces
  • Casting of ankles, resin copies, and removal of historical plaster prototypes
  • Cleaning of metal surfaces and rust conversion of iron elements
  • Creation of a resin copy of the leaf and lower abdomen and gilding tests of the copies were made
  • Removal of nineteenth-century stucco work on the face
  • Selection of a mixture chemically inert to bronze, and stable over time, for making the new grouts
  • Removal of nineteenth-century stucco work, detail at left gluteus

The creation of suitable surface protection is currently being studied.

Hercules Mastai Final Restoration 3
Hercules Mastai Final Restoration 4

Restorations Update: II Restoration Update - Hercules Mastai

The restoration project of the monumental statue in gilded bronze, the Hercules Mastai, of the Vatican Museums is an ongoing development. The chemical cleaning operations of the surfaces are on their way to completion. At the same time, restorers carry out mechanical cleaning operations to remove the cohesive concretions (probably silicates) on the entire surface of the gilding. These operations allow restorers to return the legibility to the original surfaces and identify the traces of bronze with greater ease.

The indications provided by the X-ray images defined the fractures of the bronze at the ankles, previously covered by nineteenth-century plaster reconstructions. Next, execution of the cast and copy will soon be made in a two-component acrylic resin. Restorers will reposition them with a reversible anchor system, an analogous design made for the cover and leaf. The 19th-century integrations will be removed and preserved in the storehouse. This occasion will make it possible to conduct a rust intervention on the pivots of the supporting structure and then proceed with the protection and chromatic agreement of the surface

Hercules Mastai's Foot - During Restoration
Hercules Mastai's legs - During Restoration

Restorations Update: Restoration Update - Hercules Mastai

August 8, 1864: a bronze finger emerges from the earth, and then a hand

August 31, 1864: at the depth of 8-9 meters - at 3.30 m. from the ancient level - the entire statue is brought to light, the works are conducted by the architect Luigi Gabet

"It was found on the occasion of certain excavations that the knight Righetti ordered in the courtyard of his palace, to lay the new foundations" (La Civiltà Cattolica. Anno XV, 1864, p. 731)

September 24, 1864: the statue is freed and suspended with a wooden scaffold

"I saw this statue resurrected from its tomb, raised using ropes, screws, and winches - all around commoners, workers, full of interest and cheerful gravity-a true Roman scene."

(F. Gregorovius, Diari romani 1852-1874, ed. 1992, p. 291)

October 1864: the statue is placed in a special room of the Palace and on October 6 it is inspected by Pietro Ercole Visconti and Pietro Tenerani.

January 9, 1865: Pius IX's visit formalizes the transfer to the Museums. Righetti receives 50,000 scudi and other gifts.

January 12, 1865: Pietro Ercole Visconti gives news of the discovery at the Pontifical Academy and proposes to call it the Mastai Ercole.

January 31, 1865: the statue is transferred to the Vatican, where it is restored by Tenerani.

April 1866: located in the Sala Rotonda

«… It is made of bronze with heavy gilding and is 3.83 meters high. It represents the young Hercules, who held in his right hand the club, of which several pieces have been found, and in his left hand the apples of the Hesperides, which are now missing; the skin of the lion has been found under the back of the statue, but its original place was on the left arm, from which it hung up to a little beyond the knee... The right arm hangs along the body, to which it is joined using a prop; nevertheless, according to the attitude of the hand, the club cannot have touched the ground but seems to be suspended in the air. The feet have detached from the legs: one of these, as well as the base of the statue, is still missing. There is the lack of the skull, that it seems almost cut for a crown to begin...There is a breakup of the bronze, a defect of the fusion, to the top of the head, together with the crown, it must have had another inserted piece..." (P.E. Visconti 1864)

The statue is similar to models of the first decades of the fourth century BC.

It was executed in Roman times, various chronologies were proposed:

  • End of the first century AD. (Domitian restoration)
  • Second half of the second century AD 
  • Beginning of the third century AD (rest. Septimius Severus)
  • End of the III century A.D. (rest. Diocletian/Massimian)
Hercules Mastai Excavation
Restoration Update - Hercules Mastai Details