Continuing their long standing collaboration with the Getty Villa, the Patrons held their annual Spring visit on Sunday afternoon, May 19, to experience the amazing “Sicily – Art and Invention” exhibition.
Their café luncheon was again honored with the presence of Dr. Claire Lyons, Ph.D., Getty Curator of Antiquities. Dr. Lyons gave the members a ‘pre-tour’ overview of the details that went into the two years of planning and coordination with all of the museum collaborators as well as the future exhibitions being planned at the Getty.
After a lovely luncheon, Dr. Lyons gave the Patron members a most wonderful ‘private tour’ which was made even more interesting, given her incredible knowledge of the various Sicilian archeological sites and the many treasures unearthed for this exhibition, reports Paul Romano, Patron President. This was especially important to the many members who attended who trace their ancestry to Sicily.
The Patrons learned that the settlers from the Greek mainland found in Sicily a new world of wealth and opportunity. Beginning in the late 8th century B.C., they founded colonies along the shores of the island they called Sikelia. Over time, the young transplants from Greece proudly came to regard themselves as Sikeliotes—Sicilian Greeks.
They brought their dialects and religious cults and soon transformed a land populated by native communities into an important Greek territory. The abundant natural resources and fruitful crops of the island fed a thriving economy that soon turned small colonial towns into some of the most formidable and influential city-states in the Mediterranean.
As Dr. Lyons related, Sicily was the island dear to the goddess Demeter, and she blessed it with great agricultural abundance. The early Greek colonies, aided by the talented native peoples, soon grew into powerful kingdoms during the 5th to 3rd centuries B.C. Their innovations in art, architecture, theater, poetry, philosophy, and science flourished on Sicily, which in turn left an enduring stamp on mainland Greece and later on Rome.
The 145 magnificent objects in this exhibition bear witness to the athletic and military victories, religious rituals, opulent lifestyles, and intellectual attainments that shaped Classical culture at its peak.
The highlight of the afternoon’s visit was of course the spectacular Mozia Charioteer, 470–460 B.C., only recently discovered in 1970 on the small offshore island of Mozia, located between Trapani and Marsala, on Sicily’s west coast.
The Patrons of Italian Culture will continue their close collaboration with the Getty and look forward to many more ‘private tours’ of the Getty’s extensive collections in the future. This was truly an amazing exhibit and the Board of Directors of the Patrons extend a very special thanks and sincere good wishes to Dr. Lyons and her staff for a wonderful visit.
For Membership application or more information about the Patrons of Italian Culture, and their 50+ years of promoting Italian Culture throughout Southern California, contact them at: P.I.C., P.O. Box 3465, Burbank, Ca. 91508-3465. The P.I.C. is a non-profit 501c-3 Corporation.
Donate