Splendid Sicily: Art at the Crossroads of the...
Splendid Sicily: Art at the Crossroads of the Mediterranean" Part 1
Dr. Gary Radke
Where can one visit the best-preserved Greek temples in the world? Not in Greece but in Sicily. Where can one find the world’s most fully preserved set of figural ancient Roman floor mosaics? Not in Pompeii but in Sicily. Where can one find incomparable Byzantine mosaics side by side with perfectly preserved Islamic wooden ceilings? Not in Istanbul but in Sicily. Where does the Baroque take on twists and turns never imagined in the rest of Europe? Of course, in Sicily. And where does the past still come brilliantly alive in popular arts and processions? You’ve got it, in Sicily.
In this two-part course marvel at Sicilian creativity and beauty across the ages. Learn how Sicilians, living at the crossroads of the Mediterranean, have always celebrated and embraced the best that multi-culturalism offered them.
Part One of this course will introduce you to the art and architecture of Sicily’s three Golden Ages: the Greek and Roman, Medieval, and Baroque eras. Then in Part Two drill down to learn more about other intriguing corners of Sicilian art and history: its surprising contributions to Renaissance painting, its lively popular culture, and Sicilians’ remarkable artistic responses to hard times and disasters that have always been part of the island’s history. You’ll be convinced that Sicily truly is splendid.
Suggested readings:
Sandra Benjamin, Sicily: Three Thousands Years of Human History
John Julius Norwich, Sicily, A Short History from the Ancient Greeks to Cosa Nostra
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LECTURE 3 "Going for Baroque"
Too much was never enough in 17th- and 18th-century Palermo. Churches and palaces drip with marble, gold, and extravagant clouds of stucco. Experience the coloristic marvels of churches like Santa Caterina and the Gesu, and then delight in the all-white fantasies of Giacomo Serpotta at the Orator...
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LECTURE 2 "East and West Embrace in Norman-Arab Sicily"
This lecture will look in-depth at the glittering wall mosaics of Cefalu Cathedral, the Palatine Chapel in Palermo, and the Cathedral in Monreale. Thanks to extensive inscriptions, we can read the intentions and ambitions of Sicily’s first Norman kings as they brought together cultural traditions...
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LECTURE 1 "Art and Life in Greek and Roman Sicily"
Take a virtual trip around Greek and Roman Sicily, visiting splendid Doric temples, theatres, and villas. Greek stops will include the enormous archeological site of ancient Greek Selinunte as well representative monuments in Segesta and Siracusa. Then it’s on to Roman Sicily, the bread basket o...
