One of the Catherine Park’s symbols, the bronze statue of Hercules is reinstalled at the staircase of the Cameron Gallery today.

The statue has returned after thorough restoration which started last September. For the first time in seventy years its pair statue, Flora, had to spend a lonely winter. “We hope they both will enjoy their reunification with our visitors soon”, says Director Olga Taratynova.

Restoration work was carried out by the Nasledie (heritage) workshop. It took nine months to clean the surface of the statue from exterior soiling caused by human touch and atmospheric pollution and to repair small holes, dents and cracks. The restorers preserved the original patina, reinforced the statue and covered it with a protective wax finish.

Hercules and Flora are bronze copies after the Hellenistic marble originals. They were made by Vasily Mozhalov from the models by sculptor Fyodor Gordeev at the Academy of Fine Arts in St Petersburg during 1787–88, simultaneously with the Gallery construction. The statues were looted by the Nazis during World War Two and found in 1947 near a smeltery in Germany. In December that year, Hercules and Flora were reinstalled at Tsarskoe Selo.