Sicily: Art and Invention Between Greece and Rome

Dr. Claire L. Lyons, acting senior curator of antiquities at the J. Paul Getty Museum, presents masterpieces of ancient art from Sicily. On the island-crossroads dear to Demeter and blessed with agricultural abundance, former colonies became powerful kingdoms during the fifth to third centuries BC. Innovation in architecture, coinage, theater, engineering, and science flourished in the mixed cultures of the western Greek cities. The arts of the Sicilian Greeks bear witness to the athletic and military victories, religious rituals, opulent lifestyles, and intellectual attainments that shaped Classical culture and transmitted Hellenism to Rome.