Experts uncovering gilded glory of Hercules statue

Scaffolding in a niche of the Vatican Museums' Round Hall conceal from view the work of restorers who are removing centuries of grime from the largest known bronze statue of the ancient world: The gilded Hercules Mastai Righetti.

For more than 150 years, the four-meter-tall figure of the half-human Roman god of strength has stood in that niche, barely garnering notice among other antiquities because of the dark coating it had acquired.

But it was only after removing a layer of wax and other material from a 19th-century restoration that Vatican experts understood the statue's true splendor as one of the most significant gilded statues of its time. Museum-goers will be able to see its grandeur for themselves once the restoration is finished, which is expected in December.

"The original gilding is exceptionally well-preserved, especially for the consistency and homogeneity," Vatican Museum restorer Alice Baltera said.

The discovery of the colossal bronze statue in 1864 during work on a banker's villa near Rome's Campo dei Fiori square made global headlines.

Visitors drawn to the ancient wonder at the time included Pope Pius IX, who later added the work to the papal collection. The statue depicting Hercules after he finished his labors had the last names of the pope - Mastai - and of the banker, Pietro Righetti, added to its title.

The statue has been variously dated from the end of the first to the beginning of the third centuries. Even in its day, the towering Hercules was treated with reverence.

The inscription FCS accompanying the statue on a slab of travertine marble indicates it was struck by lightning, according to Claudia Valeri, curator of the Vatican Museums department of Greek and Roman antiquities. As a...