The Sant'Angelo Muxaro Patera is an ancient gold
libation bowl that was discovered as part of a larger
hoard
A hoard or "wealth deposit" is an archaeological term for a collection of valuable objects or artifacts, sometimes purposely buried in the ground, in which case it is sometimes also known as a cache. This would usually be with the intention of ...
in the seventeenth century near the hilltop town of
Sant'Angelo Muxaro
Sant'Angelo Muxaro (; scn, Sant'Àngilu Muxaru or , aae, Shënt'Ëngjëlli) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Agrigento in the Italian region Sicily, located about south of Palermo and about north of Agrigento. The town was ...
in Sicily, southern Italy. Since 1772, this rare and precious find has been part of the
British Museum's Ancient Greek collection.
Provenance and history
The
patera was found in a tomb with three other bowls (two plain and another with bulls) which have since been lost. It later came into the possession of the famous
diplomat
A diplomat (from grc, δίπλωμα; romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state or an intergovernmental institution such as the United Nations or the European Union to conduct diplomacy with one or more other states or internati ...
and antiquary Sir
William Hamilton, who sold it to the British Museum in 1772.
British Museum Collection
/ref> Together the four bowls would have composed a prestigious treasure that probably belonged to a local monarch in Sicily. It may perhaps have been a gift to a Sicilian king from the western Greeks, as they migrated from the Greek mainland to the fringes of their new empire.
Description
The Sant'Angelo Muxaro Patera is a shallow gold bowl decorated with six identical striding bulls in relief. The long-horned bulls have angular bodies with prominent ribs and large cloven hooves. The bowl would originally have had a precious stone inserted in the centre that has long since disappeared. To one side of the central medallion
A medal or medallion is a small portable artistic object, a thin disc, normally of metal, carrying a design, usually on both sides. They typically have a commemorative purpose of some kind, and many are presented as awards. They may be int ...
can be seen a dotted crescent moon. The decoration of the bowl mixes Ancient Greek and Phoenician characteristics.
References
{{Reflist
Further reading
*L. Burn, The British Museum Book of Greek and Roman Art, (British Museum Press, 1991)
*T. Potts, Civilization, Ancient Treasures from the British Museum, (Australian Nation Gallery, Melbourne, 1990)
*P. Orsi, La necropoli di S. Angelo Muxaro, AAP 17 p. 7 fig. 32. 1932
*S. Thomas, Daidalos and the origins of Greek Art, Princeton University Press, 1992
*R. Leighton, Sicily Before History, An Archaeological Survey from the Palaeolithic to the Iron Age, pp231–232, Cornell University Press, 1999
*P. Amman, Sicily, pp120–122, Sunflower Books, 2001
Ancient Greek and Roman objects in the British Museum
Archaeological discoveries in Italy
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