The Iris

Sicily

Posted in Antiquities, Architecture and Design, Exhibitions and Installations, Getty Villa, J. Paul Getty Museum

Ancient Sicilian Coins: Miniature Masterpieces, Full-Scale Challenges

By Elie Glyn | Published: April 5, 2013
Coin with Nike Driving a Four-Horse Chariot
Royal Library of Belgium—Coin Cabinet

The designer of the Sicily exhibition at the Getty Villa reveals the challenges of displaying small, double-sided, intricate objects—coins. More»

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Posted in Ancient World, Antiquities, Exhibitions and Installations, Getty Villa, J. Paul Getty Museum

An Ancient Curse Revealed

By Alexandra Sofroniew | Published: December 12, 2012
Curse Tablet / found in Morgantina, Sicily
Curse Tablet, about 100 B.C., found in Morgantina, Sicily. Lead, 3 11/16 x 1 13/16 in. (9.4 x 4.6 cm). Museo Archeologico Regionale of Aidone

One small but powerful object stands out among the artifacts excavated from the ancient city of Morgantina in central Sicily, now on loan to the Getty Villa from the Museo Archeologico Regionale of Aidone and on view in Gallery 104…. More»

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Posted in Antiquities, Getty Villa, J. Paul Getty Museum, Sculpture and Decorative Arts

A Close Look at the Agrigento Youth

By Annelisa Stephan | Published: February 16, 2011
Statue of a Kouros (The Agrigento Youth), Greek, about 480 B.C., Museo Archeologico Regionale, Agrigento, Sicily. Photo © Angelo Pitrone

The Agrigento Youth, a Greek sculpture carved almost exactly 2,500 years ago, is wintering at the Getty Villa. It’s the second work from the Museo Archeologico Regionale in Agrigento, Sicily, to visit the Villa on loan, following the Gela Krater,… More»

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      dominusvenustas:

      Andrea del Sarto, Various studies, c.1520’s

      Son of a tailor (sarto). Andrea became one of the best loved artists of Florence. Vasari had good things to say about him.

      …Andrea del Sarto, in whose single person Nature and art showed all that painting can achieve by means of drawing, colouring and invention: and indeed if Andrea had possessed a little more boldness and daring of spirit, to match his very profound judgement and talent as a painter, he would, there is no doubt at all, have been without equal. 

      Browning wrote poems about him:

      Ah, but a man’s reach should exceed his grasp,
      Or what’s a heaven for?

      His drawings are natural, graceful and sensitive, an excellent draughtsman.

      …and he was very much in love with his wife… (something we don’t often hear about Renaissance artists!)

      Our curator Julian Brooks is in Florence now researching del Sarto for an exhibition in 2015.


      05/22/13

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