Horus is one of the most ancient deities of the of the Egyptian Pantheon. He was considered the protector of the monarchy since the early dynasties. Horus was represented either as a hawk, or, as in this statuette, as a falcon headed man with a double crown of Upper and Lower Egypt on his head. Horus is also represented as the god of the sky, shaped as a falcon whose eyes are the sun and the moon.

Horus is the son of Isis and Osiris, and he was given the throne of the living world as heir of Osiris. Osiris was murdered and dismembered by the god Seth out of jealousy. Horus later sought revenge for his father’s life. Thus, the Pharaoh, as a ‘living Horus on earth’, is considered the early manifestation of Horus.

The statuette, which has a hollow space, was used as a funerary urn for the mummy of a falcon, and was possibly placed in one of the cemeteries dedicated to the god. The most important and largest hawk cemetery was located in North Saqqara and housed hundreds of thousands of mummified falcons.

Before the restoration, there did not appear to be any damage from a structural point of view, apart from the lack of small tenon bronze under the throne in the front left, which was originally used to fix the statue to a base, which is now lost. Due to the instability from this lack of tenon, a removable base was provided for the statue in Perspex. Some non extensive cracks suggested some tension was applied over time from the bronze. A very different situation occurred after the cleaning of the surfaces, as discussed below.

The surfaces were all covered with a consistent layer of a plastic, which was glossy and ocher in color; it was thickest on the whole left side. It is, according to the attached laboratory analysis, an artificial patina with color consisting predominately of shellac and natural elements applied to color the surfaces so as to be opaque, and able to hide the past restorations.

Almost everywhere, but especially around the head, serious corrosion was evident, as demonstrated in areas with a tough light green color (copper chloride).

The interior surfaces were very dirty and had a light ocher plaster. Also here, corrosion was noted with the products of a light green color, similar to those on the outside.

Under the small base of the feet there are substantial earthy, light colored remains that have some stones embedded within.

There is also a small gap on the surface of the left ankle.

Subsequent Intervention

The restoration was divided into the following phases:

1). Cleaning of the Exterior Surface

The goal of this step was to remove the artificial patina based shellac. The operation was performed by means of short (5/10 min) localized compresses of cotton wool soaked in solvent (Solvanol) with which the layer of rubber was softened. The next phase involved a mechanical intervention through means of a scalpel and manual toothbrush bristles: Micromotors equipped with rotating metal bristle brushes.

The removal of most of the copper cholorides (active corrosion) was performed mechanically with a scalpel and microdrill, pronged with diamonds balls of different diameters.

The interior surfaces have been treated mechanically with the same tools, except that the solvent wraps were not used as there was no patina present on the inside.

2). Washing in Distilled Water

On the outside part of the statue, surface rinsing was performed with toothbrushes. Internally, since the deeper areas were not manually accessible, the statue had to be repeatedly filled and emptied.

3). Corrosion Inhibitor Treatment

The corrosion inhibitor treatment was performed with cysteine dissolved in warm ethyl alcohol, which was dissolved completely. The application was made by brushing the exterior surfaces and temporarily closing the various holes with metal tape. It is hoped that the products of active corrosion (chlorides) deep in inaccessible areas (detected by endoscopy) are also inhibited by cysteine as they are not accessible by mechanical instruments suitable for their removal.

4). Application of a Protective Surface

The protective layer that was used is an acrylic resin that has been dissolved in a solvent (Paraloid B72 dissolved in 5% nitro). The implementing rules have been adopted the same for cysteine. Above the Paraloid a thin layer of microcrystalline wax was spread (Ceronis- Lefranc et Bourgeois).

5). Integration of the Gaps

All of the gaps were supplemented with a mixture of epoxy resin (Araldite BY 158- Ciba Geygi) and colored with natural materials. The gaps were present mainly along the perimeter of the bronze recast at the points where the air bubbles trapped in the mold did not allow the metal to cling to the edge of the gap.

Resin integrations, after being finished with abrasive pads, were balanced chromatically with tempera colors that were applied with the stippled method (toothbrush spray) developed by the same Metal Restoration Laboratory of the Vatican Museums.

6).  Realization of New Media

The new support has been made of stainless steel and supports the statue from under the throne without projecting it, so to be as invisible as possible. This mount replaces another from the past made with a sheet of Perspex, aesthetically much more invasive.

 

Observations from the Restoration

 

The analysis of the alloy has recognized a ternary alloy as constitutive of the statue as we average copper (about 79%), lead (about 14%), and tin (about 7%) make up the work. This alloy is similar to that of other bronze artifacts in the Egyptian Museum, which were previously analyzed by the same laboratory.

After cleaning the outer surfaces, a large gap showed that had been filled in the past with bronze recast. The laboratory analysis, through means of fluorescence X, have recognized two re-melted alloys with slightly different characteristics. However, they are both characterized by the presence of zinc  instead of the alloy in consistency with the rest of the statue. It is therefore a relatively recent restoration (19^th century?) during which it is possible that a first recast failed to fully fill the gap. It was therefore necessary to back them with a  second completed beforehand. The recast in bronze was performed with the lost wax method in correlation with the wax model made on the statue here, which we know because the edges of the gap are slightly singed (a dark patina).

The poor adhesion at the edges of the statue has forced the restorers of this intervention to carry out the welds of the lead to reinforce the seal. Recasting was made difficult to implement due to the edges being at a higher level than the surface of the statue, especially in the area around the thighs and hip.

The recast within the cast was camouflaged through smearing it with natural earth and chalk.

The rings around the eyes, which were at first indistinguishable because they were covered by ocher patina shellac, proved to be mainly gold alloy.

The headgear has a front insert that appears to be a central element made separately and added once cold, corrosion, developed in a very intense way, made this piece unrecognizable. The lab analysis confirmed the presence of a metal consisting of primarily copper. This alloy does not coincide with that of the statue so it can be said that this is actually the remains of an element of the work made separately.

Radiographic studies have shown that the crown is full, as they seem to be even in the thinner parts of the arms and legs. In radiography the iron nail spacers (possibly two), but which are visible to the naked eye were not identified in the part corresponding to the stomach.

The hands are both perforated perhaps for the insertion of scepters: the left one is empty and the right one is filled with a material (not an artifact) that is not well defined and laboratory analysis (fluorescence X) has identified as primarily copper.

On the front of the base, under the foot, there seems to be an inscription in hieroglyphics, perhaps too worn to be read.