Restored ‘Apollo Belvedere’ statue back on display at the Vatican

The Vatican Museums have unveiled the restored second-century “Apollo Belvedere” sculpture, following a five-year restoration effort. Once regarded as the epitome of classical Western beauty, the 2.24-meter (seven-foot) marble statue depicts the Greek god of medicine and poetry in motion, with his left arm poised as if having just released an arrow.

According to The Australian, the restoration, costing around 260,000 euros ($280,000), addressed significant structural issues identified in late 2019, particularly fragility in the legs and a general lack of balance in the statue’s structure, according to the restoration team.

A carbon-fiber rod was added to the base, stabilizing the sculpture, which was presented at the Vatican’s Pio-Clementine Museum to public applause. Guy Devreux, head of the restoration workshop, explained that the challenge was to avoid moving or dismantling the sculpture. The innovative use of carbon fiber provided “extraordinary results” without altering the statue.

Barbara Jatta, director of the Vatican Museums, highlighted the difficulty of temporarily closing access to such an iconic piece during the restoration.

Originally discovered in 1489 in the ruins of an ancient Roman house, the “Apollo Belvedere” was brought to the Vatican by Pope Julius II. The restoration also involved replacing the statue’s left hand with a cast from a fragment of a plaster copy of the original Greek statue, a bronze work attributed to the renowned sculptor Leochares from around 330 BC.

Source: The Australian