Saturday, May 26, 2018

Palermo's National Archaeological Museum, 1

It was closed when we were there in 2011. Renovations. The renovations have progressed so far by 2018 that the ground floor is now open. It is a great educational museum, particularly devoted to the 5th century BC Greek temples at Selinunte, which we would visit shortly. It is so incredible that the Greeks' colonization of the Mediterranean antedated so much of classical Greece...
All of it in an old religious complex

Turtle love at a great fountain at the entrance

Our founder: anybody who creates a museum deserves a bust

Painted sarcophogus; slowly, we are realizing that everything was painted, in
classical times, and in medieval times too

An educational museum...


The Palermo museum's signature holdings are the metopes from Temple C at
Selinunte; very much like the Elgin Marbles of the Parthenon; except Selinunte
is older...

Perseus giving Medusa a trim

More 

Hercules battling an Amazon; not a Prime Amazon, however

Helpful model #204857

To us, the most amazing feature here was the gigantic representation of the
Gorgon, at the head of the pediment

Another metope: Actaeon being ripped apart by the dogs: never, ever, look upon
nekked goddesses in the woods

Where Legos got its start

Click to enlarge

The Gorgon at Temple C

Before they started writing on lines 
The usual collections of pots, pans, Bed, Bath & Beyond items

Museum guard hard at work

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