STUNNING ANCIENT SICILIAN ART ON VIEW IN CLEVELAND

IN the 5th to 3rd Centuries BC, Greek-inspired art, architecture, theater, poetry, philosophy, and science flourished in Sicily.

The exhibit "Sicily: Art and Invention between Greece and Rome" has just opened at the CLEVELAND MUSEUM OF ART and runs through January 5, 2014. Go see this extraordinary exhibit before its treasures cross the sea.

The exhibits presents masterpieces of art from ancient Sicily, an island crossroads that forged a distinctive Hellenic identity.

One of the highlights is the Statue of a Youth (the Mozia Charioteer), 470–460 B.C., Sikeliote (Sicilian Greek). Marble, height: 181 cm.

Occupying a pivotal position in Mediterranean history, former Greek colonies such as Syracuse, Gela, Akragas, and Selinos emerged as wealthy city-states, where innovation and experimentation flourished.

This exhibition celebrates Sicilian culture of the 5th to 3rd Centuries BC, when its art, architecture, theater, poetry, philosophy, and science left an original and enduring stamp on both mainland Greece and Rome.

Over 150 objects bear witness to the military and athletic victories, religious and civic rituals, opulent lifestyles, and intellectual attainments that shaped the western Greek world.