Vatican experts uncovering gilded glory of Hercules statue struck by lightning

A Vatican Museum restorer works on restoring the bronze Hercules statue, in the Round Hall of the Vatican Museums. Photo: AP

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 4m 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.