• A ceramic dinos, or bowl, with triskelion decoration from Palma di Montechiaro, Sicily, 650 to 600BC. Courtesy Regione Siciliana.
    A ceramic dinos, or bowl, with triskelion decoration from Palma di Montechiaro, Sicily, 650 to 600BC. Courtesy Regione Siciliana.
  • Fragments of Holy Roman Emperor Henry VI’s lampas silk funerary robe, from Palermo, 1197AD. Courtesy Trustees of the British Museum.
    Fragments of Holy Roman Emperor Henry VI’s lampas silk funerary robe, from Palermo, 1197AD. Courtesy Trustees of the British Museum.
  • Marble bust, 1220 to 1250AD, of Sicilian king and Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II. Courtesy H Behrens, Deutsches Archaologisches Institut, Rome.
    Marble bust, 1220 to 1250AD, of Sicilian king and Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II. Courtesy H Behrens, Deutsches Archaologisches Institut, Rome.
  • A gilded bronze falcon, with traces of gold, from Sicily or southern Italy, 1200 to 1220AD. Courtesy The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
    A gilded bronze falcon, with traces of gold, from Sicily or southern Italy, 1200 to 1220AD. Courtesy The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
  • A limestone head from a temple in Selinus, Sicily, 540 to 510BC. Courtesy Regione Siciliana.
    A limestone head from a temple in Selinus, Sicily, 540 to 510BC. Courtesy Regione Siciliana.
  • Terracotta altar with three women and a panther mauling a bull, from Gela, Sicily, about 500 BC. Courtesy Regione Siciliana.
    Terracotta altar with three women and a panther mauling a bull, from Gela, Sicily, about 500 BC. Courtesy Regione Siciliana.
  • Recovered from the seabed near Levanzo, Sicily, this Roman bronze rostrum ( battering ram), dates to 240BC. Courtesy Regione Siciliana.
    Recovered from the seabed near Levanzo, Sicily, this Roman bronze rostrum ( battering ram), dates to 240BC. Courtesy Regione Siciliana.
  • Gold libation bowl decorated with six bulls, from Sant’ Angelo Muxaro, Sicily, 600BC. Courtesy Trustees of the British Museum.
    Gold libation bowl decorated with six bulls, from Sant’ Angelo Muxaro, Sicily, 600BC. Courtesy Trustees of the British Museum.
  • Byzantine-style mosaic of the Virgin, from Palermo Cathedral, Sicily, from 1130 to 1180AD. Courtesy Museo Diocesano di Palermo.
    Byzantine-style mosaic of the Virgin, from Palermo Cathedral, Sicily, from 1130 to 1180AD. Courtesy Museo Diocesano di Palermo.
  • A map of Sicily from Al Idrisi’s Treatise, 1300 to 1500AD. Courtesy Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford.
    A map of Sicily from Al Idrisi’s Treatise, 1300 to 1500AD. Courtesy Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford.

A Sicilian story: 4,000 years of cosmopolitanism on show at the British Museum

  • English
  • Arabic

Sicily has been tarnished by its association with the Cosa Nostra – something this British Museum exhibition on the island’s rich history seeks to overturn. From the 8th century BC, Sicily was invaded and settled by Phoenicians, Romans, Arabs, Normans and others, leading to its unique cultural richness over 4,000 years.

About 200 objects are on display in London which illustrate the island’s cosmopolitanism, including coins, gold jewellery, Norman mosaics and Greek sculpture.

Particularly striking among the exhibits are a terracotta altar from 500BC and a Roman battering ram that was once fixed to a warship. It was retrieved from the waters around the island.

* The Review

• Sicily: Culture and Conquest runs at the British Museum until August 14. For more information visit www.britishmuseum.org

Art galleriesArt