A masterpiece of Khmer art, a monumental sculpture of Vishnu from the Western Mebon, one of the rare representations of the great Hindu god in his reclining form, has arrived at the Centre for Research and Restoration of the Museums of France (Centre de Recherche et de Restauration des Musees de France, C2RMF) for a technological study prior to its restoration and subsequent exhibition at the Guimet Museum in Paris. "We are a bit like Nasa (...) each of us with our own area of expertise: geologists, metallurgists, specialists in polychromy and dating," explains David Bourgarit, an archaeo-metallurgist research engineer at the C2RMF. (COMPLETES VIDI34WK2JT_EN) IMAGES AND SOUNDBITES