More Images from Magna Graecia

Paestum The ancient geographer Strabo and the historian Pliny recorded the mythical tradition that Jason and the Argonauts landed near the Sele River and founded a sanctuary to the goddess Hera. Since the 18th century explorers had searched for the site along the banks of the Sele to no avail - until 1934 when the sanctuary was discovered by Italian archeologists. This led to the excavation of one of the most important series of architectural decorations known from Magna Graecia of which this example is among the finest. Herakles, dressed in a chitoniskos, with a quiver suspended from his shoulders, kills the mightiest of giants, Alkyoneus, son of the Heaven, Ouranos, and the Earth, Ge. Found with number of other metopes carved with scenes from the life of Herakles, it originally formed a part of a sculpted decorative frieze, a system of carved architectural decoration that may have been an innovation of the Western Greeks.			Herakles and Alkyoneus Metope Ca. 560-550 BC Sandstone, H. 83, L. 152, W. 31 Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Paestum, inv. 133155 Exhibition cat. 2
Enthroned Zeus (about 530-520 BC) Paestum, southern urban sanctuary Terracotta, painted Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Paestum, inv. 133149 [Cat. no. 4]	Likely a cult image of the god, this statue originally must have been placed in one of the shrines of the sacred area of Paestum on the southern part of the city. Originally the head of the figure was adorned with a bronze headband, a stephane, now missing. Small holes can be seen pierced at the top of the head, with traces of the metal still evident. The painted surface of the sculpture is well preserved, allowing us to imagine how colorful Greek temples and sanctuaries were in antiquity, filled with similar polychrome images and decoration. Though reconstructed and restored from fragments, it remains one of the most significant terracotta sculptures known in Magna Graecia. Close stylistic similarities between this statue and large scale terracotta sculpture produced by the Etruscans points to the strong cultural contact and exchanges between Paestum and the Etruscans during this time.
Reggio Calabria Aphrodite, goddess of love, wears a draped polos headdress while holding her son, Eros, in the crook of her folded arm. Found in a votive deposit at Medma, her pose takes on a particularly religious aspect -- a mother and child composition comparable with the Madonna and Child iconography of later European art. The unusual pose of the figures and attention to the detailed expressions on their faces marks this statuette as a uniquely beautiful work by an artist aware of trends in classical art as defined by mainland Greece, especially compared with other terracottas produced almost mechanically en masse as votive dedications.			Aphrodite with Eros Statuette (about 450 BC) Medma Terracotta, orange-red clay with translucent inclusions, mold-made, hand-finished Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Reggio Calabria, inv. 607 C [Cat. no. 34]
Mirror with Siren (about 450-400 BC) Locri Epizephirii, necropolis Bronze, cast, incised Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Reggio Calabria, inv. 4496 [Cat. no. 43]	The artists of Magna Graecia took delight in the ornamental, and bronze offered a supple medium for its expression. The mirror with a siren, dramatically emerging from lotus buds, volutes, and palmettes, depicts the mythological being with dynamic energy in great detail - windswept, flame-like hair tossed back with outstretched wings on which the feathers are finely detailed with incised lines. In antiquity, the bronze disc was polished and the reflective surface would have provided an effective mirror. This example would have had the tang inserted into an ivory or bone handle, now missing.
Syracuse Made to hold scented oils, this exquisite ceramic vessel is a rarity because of its innovative design. Harmonious proportions are further refined with decoration, delicately painted in colorful detail. Its type as a perfume container represents the large number of simpler, small scale vessels produced in Corinth and exported throughout the Mediterranean region. Themes for decoration on Corinthian pottery were often zoomorphic in nature and lions are among the commonest animals depicted. The lion served as a symbol of victory, taking upon apotropaic aspects, it was capable of warding off evil. As such lions were commonly associated with tomb monuments as protectors of the deceased. This lion shaped vessel from a tomb in the necropolis of Syracuse likely served its owner well during life, filled with oil, and again in death as protective companion.			Lion Vessel (about 600-575 BC) Syracuse, Giardino di Spagna Terracotta, refined light brown and yellow clay, painted Museo Archeologico Regionale "Paolo Orsi" di Siracusa, inv. 43332 [Cat. no. 48]
Bull and Lion Altar (about 550-500 BC) Centuripe, from the acropolis area at Enna Terracotta, pale yellow-beige clay with inclusions and slip, mold-made, and hand-finished Museo Archeologico Regionale "Paolo Orsi" di Siracusa, inv. 18670 [Cat. no. 53]	The preserved front surface of this altar depicts a zoomachia (animal fight), here a mortal combat between a dynamically rendered lion, agile and muscular, and a bull struggling to free itself from the lion's deadly embrace. Rectangular terracotta altars are prevalent in south Italy and Sicily, often found in a funerary context inside or on top of the tombs. The lion was considered to be apotropaic and in this role representations of lions were appropriate as guardians, signifying the triumph of good over evil, victor over vanquished, certainly as a protector for the deceased. The inspiration for the scene was ultimately derived from the Near East, the motif assimilated by Greek art of the seventh century B.C., then spread throughout the Western Greek colonies.
Gela The abduction of Kephalos by Eos, goddess of the dawn, is represented on this altar or arula that was found near the other two altars from Gela. Fleeing with the youthful Kephalos, snatched up to live among the gods, Eos adopts the same running position as the Gorgon Medusa depicted on one of the other altars from Gela. Eos is described in the works of Homer as rosy fingered and saffron robed, obviously references to the colors of the sky at sunrise. This episode from Greek myth is an appropriate one to mark the passing of a youth into the afterlife, a touching depiction of the religious belief that the soul of the deceased was taken from this earth by Eos at sunrise. The scene is often illustrated on vases and appears on another similar altar from Gela, found in the chthonic sanctuary north of the acropolis.			Altar with Eos and Kephalos (about 500-475 BC) Gela, acropolis at Bosco Littorio Terracotta Museo Archeologico Regionale di Gela, inv. Sop. BL 12 [Cat. no. 58]
Head of a Horse (about 470-460 BC) Gela, acropolis Terracotta, beige clay with abundant lithic inclusions, slip of the same color as the clay, mold-made, finished with a stick Museo Archeologico Regionale di Gela, inv. 8585 [Cat. no. 61]	The lack of a natural source of white marble in Western Greece encouraged the use of fired clay by the sculptors in south Italy and Sicily. This horse's head was probably once part of the sculptural embellishment of a temple. The sculptor has infused the head with a strong sense of a living animal exerting itself with great effort. The nostrils are dilated and the mouth is open showing the teeth. The rendering of surface veins and the vigorous modeling of the mane enhance a dramatic image.
This antefix and rounded roof tile come from the apex of a sacred building on the Gela acropolis. The red and black painted surface is well preserved and gives an indication of just how colorful these edifices must have been when viewed in the bright light of the Mediterranean. Missing its threatening fangs and with a grimaced more like a smile, this representation of the Gorgon seems almost welcoming and tame, especially when compared with other truly frightening images of gorgons in the exhibition.			Antefix with Gorgon Head (about 530 BC) Gela, acropolis Terracotta, bright pink clay, cream-colored slip, mold-made, hand-finished, painted Museo Archeologico Regionale di Gela, inv. 35688 [Cat. no. 62]
Triskeles Dinos (about 610-600 BC) Agrigento, Palma di Montechiaro, near Castellazzo Ceramic, local clay with pink slip Museo Archeologico Regionale di Agrigento, inv. AG 4328 [Cat. no. 66]	Agrigento This deep bowl for the mixing of wine was made in Gela but the inspiration for its shape and decoration derives from an eastern Greek, Rhodian model. The bottom exterior depicts an eastern motif, the triskeles, composed of three bent legs converging at the center in a circular area. This triskeles type became one of the first symbols of Sicily and still a symbol for the island today. The artist who created this vessel combined different decorative motifs in an unusual arrangement and succeeded in expressing the innovative, colonial spirit of Western Greece
A louterion is a water basin used in religious ceremonies. These are fragments of the decorated rims of three of these basins. The repetitive figural scenes on them were made with molds, pressed into the wet clay before firing. The komast louterion shows a scene in which nude men dance to the music of a flute player, around a large wine vessel (krater). The wild, animated figures are caricatures, and probably meant to be amusing.			Komast Louterion Rim (about 510-500 BC) Agrigento Terracotta, mold-made, hand-finished Museo Archeologico Regionale di Agrigento, inv. AG 21030 [Cat. no. 69]