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
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.
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.
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.
Inventory N°: 252
Artist: Unknown
Date: II-III century A.D.
Dimensions: 383 cm
Materials: Gilded bronze
Department:
Greek and Roman AntiquitiesWishbook year: 2021
Total Cost
€ 100,000
Over the past few months, the restoration of the monumental statue of Hercules Mastai involved several interventions that included:
The creation of suitable surface protection is currently being studied.
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
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:
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
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.
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.
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.
Hercules Mastai
Over the past few months, the restoration of the monumental statue of Hercules Mastai involved several interventions that included:
The creation of suitable surface protection is currently being studied.
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
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:
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in the Vatican Museums
Vatican Museums V-00120,
Vatican City State (Europe)