Ceres returns to Missouri State Capitol's dome

The statue of the Roman goddess Ceres was hoisted back to her perch atop the Missouri State Capitol dome Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2019.
The statue of the Roman goddess Ceres was hoisted back to her perch atop the Missouri State Capitol dome Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2019.

The Ceres statue that was brought down last year, traveled to Chicago for conservation work and returned to Jefferson City this month conclude its odyssey back to the summit of the Missouri State Capitol on Tuesday morning.

The date to lift The 10-foot, 4-inch, 1,407-pound bronze statue of a Roman goddess back up to the top of the Capitol's dome had not been confirmed with the commissioner's office of the Office of Administration until Monday.

The heavy lift was scheduled to begin at 8 a.m., before a 550-ton crane did the job later in the morning.

Not everyone has wanted Ceres to go back up atop the dome, ever, however.

State Rep. Mike Moon, R-Ash Grove, released a letter earlier this month asking Gov. Mike Parson to "direct the Capitol Commission to not return the false god Ceres, the Roman goddess, to the top of the Capitol dome."

Ceres is the Roman goddess of agriculture, grain crops, fertility and motherly relationships. Images and likenesses of Ceres also adorn the dome of Vermont's statehouse, the Chicago Board of Trade building, and the state seal of New Jersey - and Ceres is the name of dwarf planet that's also the largest object in the asteroid belt between the planets of Mars and Jupiter, also named after Roman gods.

"Unfortunately, I wasn't on top of it," Moon said last week of why he did not raise his objection through his letter until after Ceres had been taken down and returned from conservation treatments by laser at Objects Studio Inc. in Forest Park, Illinois.

Moon said he would not have spoken up if Ceres had been left atop the dome.

The stone of the lantern, or cupola, beneath Ceres' base atop the dome had been compromised due to exposure to the weather, and that structure was taken apart and lifted back up.

The statue was taken down in November 2018 and was on public display the weekend of Dec. 6 this year on the Capitol grounds.

With Ceres back and the money already spent to have the statue restored, Moon said it ought to be housed indoors in a climate-controlled environment - and he would be fine with that being inside the State Capitol's museum.

He said his issue was merely with Ceres being atop the dome again and said a lightning rod could take the statue's place.

"If the plan can't be changed, that's the way it is," Moon said.

Video of Ceres' return was streamed live at facebook.com/MissouriOA/videos/789137118225845/.