Uncovering the Gilded Glory of a Lightning-Struck Hercules Statue in the Vatican.

Vatican Museum restorers are removing centuries of grime from the largest known bronze statue of the ancient world, the gilded Hercules Mastai Righetti. The original gilding is exceptionally well-preserved, especially for the consistency and homogeneity. The statue has been variously dated from the end of the first to the beginning of the third centuries. The most astonishing finding to emerge during the preliminary phase of the restoration was the skill with which the smelters fused mercury to gold, making the gilded surface more enduring.