Romania's ancient Getic gold helmet from Cotofenesti, now approaching the final stage of restoration, was presented at the National History Museum of Romania on Monday, with Culture Minister Ioana Ciocan announcing that the valuable artefact would go on display in a special exhibition marking National Culture Day on January 15.

'I spoke a little earlier with director Cornel Ilie, and a special exhibition will be organised for National Culture Day, which will also include the helmet,' Ciocan said.

The museum's director general, Cornel Ilie, announced that the helmet had been restored to 'almost its original shape'.

'We are now entering the final stage of this process, and what you will see today is the result of resolving the most important, most serious and most complicated problem, namely the flattening of the helmet. When it arrived, it was crushed and had suffered considerable damage, so Alexandru Doja, after all possible investigations and analyses had been carried out and the best restoration methodology had been determined, began the actual restoration work and managed to return this extremely important artefact of our history to its original, or almost original, shape. The final stage of restoration will involve reattaching the cheek guard, which had previously been restored but became detached. This process presents far fewer difficulties and will be completed as soon as possible,' Ilie said.

Alexandru Doja, the museum specialist responsible for restoring the helmet, said the work to recover its original shape had been successful.

'It was a stage involving numerous difficulties and challenges, but also a genuine success. As you can see, the helmet cannot yet be displayed in its normal position because of the detached cheek guard, and it lacks the stability required for such a display. One of the challenges was restoring its shape using methods that I would describe as experimental and which had never been tried before. This was a first for me as well, and I am pleased to have been able to restore the helmet to a shape close to, if not exactly, its original one. There were deformations at the front, around the eyes, particularly on one side, where the metal had been forced into an unnatural shape, and at the back, which had also given the helmet an oval appearance. It is now very close to the shape it had before the theft, and I can say that this stage has been completed. What remains is to reattach the cheek guard, reinforce certain cracks that had existed since antiquity and had previously been restored, remove all the old restoration interventions and return the helmet to public display,' the restorer explained.

Doja said he had gradually restored the artefact's shape, working on individual sections.

'All the deformations were corrected by applying controlled pressure between two moulds. For each stage of applying pressure to the object, I had to make moulds from a thermoplastic material for both the inside and the outside, preserving its shape and ensuring the largest possible contact surface. This allowed me to take the metal beyond its elastic range, into the plastic deformation range, and gradually restore its shape, section by section. (...) Today we are here together, looking at an object that is close to its original shape,' Doja said.

He noted that the helmet's appearance before the theft had been documented only in photographs.

'We do not have an exact scan showing the object's precise dimensions from before the theft, only one made afterwards. I relied extensively on a replica of the helmet in the museum's collection, although that also has a margin of error because it has aged and undergone some deformation. Nevertheless, its overall shape is a one-to-one reproduction of the original, so I was able to use it as a guide,' the specialist added.

Deputy Prime Minister Marian Neacsu, who attended the event, expressed his satisfaction at seeing 'one of the most important relics of our ancient culture' again.

'We will spare no effort to recover the last of the four bracelets, which has not yet been returned to our national heritage. I am convinced that, through combined efforts and specific measures, we will soon be able to return the fourth and final bracelet to the Romanian people,' the deputy prime minister said.

He also pledged support for the museum's restoration efforts.

'I am pleased that, after a long time and considerable effort, the museum is undergoing a process of reorganisation and consolidation. I want to assure you that, as deputy prime minister, although I had not made this commitment until now, I am making it here, before you: I will support these efforts,' Neacsu said.

Last summer, the National History Museum of Romania launched a dedicated webpage allowing the public to follow the investigation, conservation and restoration of the Cotofenesti Getic princely helmet, one of the country's most valuable heritage artefacts.

According to the museum, the first stage involved extensive imaging documentation to record the helmet's condition and establish a reference for subsequent research, conservation and restoration work.

The second stage included a series of non-invasive physical and chemical analyses, including optical and digital microscopy, X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (XRF), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometry (EDX), proton-induced X-ray emission spectrometry (PIXE) and metallography.

The investigations were conducted by museum specialists in cooperation with researchers from the Horia Hulubei National Institute for Research and Development in Physics and Nuclear Engineering and experts from the Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands.

The analyses examined the materials and techniques used to manufacture the helmet, assessed its condition and identified changes to its surface and structure.

Based on the findings, a conservation and restoration strategy was developed in accordance with current legislation and the principles of minimal intervention, material compatibility, reversibility and comprehensive documentation.

After reviewing the specialist documentation, the National Commission of Museums and Collections approved the restoration programme, allowing direct work on the helmet to begin.

The documentation was prepared by an interdisciplinary team at the National History Museum of Romania, comprising museum curators, specialists in the conservation and restoration of archaeological metal objects, and researchers specialising in physical and chemical investigations. AGERPRES (RO - writing by: Daniel Popescu; EN - writing by: Simona Iacob)