Provenience: Christie’s Fine Art Auction House, London; Private collection, England

Place of origin: Eastern Turkestan, Khotan

Late Hellenistic period (1st century B.C)

This stunning ancient Greek floor mosaic was just excavated in southern Turkey, near the Syrian border.

Princeton University Art Museum

Restoration of an Emma Gaggiotti Portrait § Baumgartner Restoration (source)

The ancient Greek community of Selinunte was founded as a sub-colony of Megara Iblea in 651-650 BCE. One of the first sacred sites in the western Sicilian city, which is considered one of the world’s largest archaeological zones, is the Santuario della Malophoros or the Sanctuary of the Fruit Bearer. “Malophoros” implies pomegranates or apples because among the ruins found in the temple grounds (specifically at the foundation of what archeologists deem was an altar), were dozens of small sacred feminine statues carrying a pomegranate. Some of these statuettes can be seen today in the Regional Archaeological Museum Antonino Salinas in Palermo (pictured). From this evidence, researchers conclude that this site was dedicated to the mother goddess Demeter and her daughter Persephone. (To be continued… ) #experiencesicily #sicily #selinunte #demeter #persephone #statuettes #palermo #salinas #malophoros #divinefeminine #archaeology #archeologia #ancient #ancientgreece #magnagrecia #ancientgreek #sicilia #siciliabedda #italy #italia #sicilians_world #ig_sicily #igerssicilia #instasicilia #sicily_tricolors #ig_visitsicily #Sicilia_PhotoGroup #whatsicilyis #viverlasicilia (at Palermo, Italy) https://www.instagram.com/p/CKS70Yzlfzc/?igshid=pdrnq6mc49jn

Etruscan terracotta alabastron (perfume vase). In the upper register, Heracles and centaurs; in the lower register, a flutist leading a procession of women. Artist unknown; 6th cent. BCE. Now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

The Day of Judgment, described in the Apocalypse, or Book of Revelation, inspired commentary and vivid, panoramic imagery, while scenes of the Last Judgment appeared frequently in objects of all sizes—from church doorways to devotional objects small enough to hold in the hand. the blessed are received into heaven, while the damned are doomed to the eternal horrors of hell.

Mosaic of the Three Graces dancing, from the Roman villa in Patras, Greece, c. 3rd century

Source: The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Fragment of an ancient Greek Attic white ground kylix showing a Thracian woman with tattooed arms. Pistoxenos Painter, 470-460 BC.

— Jacques Le Goff, Medieval Civilization (‘64)

— Nancy Caciola, Discerning Spirits: Divine and Demonic Possession in the Middle Ages.

Ancient Egyptian ostrakon bearing a sketch of the 20th Dynasty pharaoh Ramesses IV.  Artist unknown; ca. 1153-1147 BCE.  Found in front of Ramesses’ tomb in the Valley of the Kings; now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Provenance: Rome, Vatican Museums, Pius-Clementine Museum, Gallery of statues, 62 (Musei Vaticani, Museo Pio-Clementino, Galleria delle statue)

Two archers (perhaps Amazons) with their dog on a hunt. Terracotta alabastron (perfume vase), related to the Group of the Paidikos Alabastra; ca. 510-500 BCE.  Now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art.