THE GETTY VILLA TO PRESENT AGRIGENTO YOUTH

THE AGRIGENTO YOUTH, ONE OF THE MASTERPIECES OF THE MUSEO ARCHEOLOGICO REGIONALE DI AGRIGENTO IN SOUTHWESTERN SICILY, GOES ON VIEW TODAY AT THE GETTY VILLA IN A GALLERY DEVOTED TO IMAGES OF ATHLETES AND ATHLETIC COMPETITION (GALLERY 211). ON LOAN TO THE GETTY MUSEUM THROUGH 19.APRIL.2011, THE FIGURE IS A RAE EXAMPLE OF AN EARLY CLASSICAL MARBLE STATUE CALLED A KOUROS, OR IDEALIZED NUDE YOUNG MAN. TO THE ANCIENT GREEKS, SCULPTURES SUCH AS THESE REPRESENTED THE FINEST CIVIC IDEALS AN ARISTOCRAT COULD ATTAIN UPON REACHING MANHOOD. THEY WERE MADE TO SERVE AS COSTLY DEDICATORY OBJECTS WHICH COULD FUNCTION AS DEDICATIONS TO GODS, REPRESENTATIONS OF GODS, OR TO HONOR THE MEMORY OF A FALLEN MORTAL AS PART OF HIS FUNERARY RITUAL. THE FIGURE WAS CARVED BY AN UNKNOWN ARTIST AROUND 480 BC, JUST AT THE ARTISTIC TURNING POINT BETWEEN THE ARCHAIC AND CLASSICAL PERIODS. THE STYLE HAS BEEN TERMED BY THE SCHOLARS THE SEVERE STYLE DUE TO THE SOLEMN FACIAL FEATURES AND ERECT STANCE FAVORED AT THE TIME. UNDER LIFE-SIZE AT 40 INCHES IN HEIGHT, THE AGRIGENTO YOUTH IS COMPARABLE TO THE HIGHEST QUALITY CONTEMPORARY ATHENIAN KOUROI, WITH WHOM IT SHARES MANY TRAITS, SUCH AS THE SENSITIVELY RENDERED MODELING OF THE ANATOMY, THE ERECT STANCE WITH ONE LEG FORWARD, AND THE SERENE AND STRAIGHTFORWARD GAZE. BUT UNLIKE THE MAJORITY OF STATUES FROM THE PERIOD, THE FIGURE'S RIGHT ARM IS RAISED AS IF HOLDING OUT AN OBJECT. THE STONE FROM WHICH IT WAS CARVED IS A WHITE MARBLE IMPORTED FROM GREECE, WHICH INDICATES THAT THE AGRIGENTO YOUTH WAS AN EXPENSIVE AND NOTEWORTHY DEDICATION. BEFORE ITS INSTALLATION AT THE VILLA, THE MUSEUM'S CONSERVATION TEAM COLLABORATED WITH CONSERVATORS FROM THE MUSEO ARCHEOLOGICO REGIONALE TO CONSTRUCT A CUSTOM SEISMIC ISOLATION BASE AND PEDESTAL FOR THE STATUE. WHEN THE SCULPTURE RETURNS TO SICILY, IT WILL BE ACCOMPANIED BY ITS NEW PEDESTAL AND EARTHQUAKE-RESISTANT MOUNT FOR DISPLAY IN ITS HOME MUSEUM. THIS IS THE LATEST IN A SERIES OF COOPERATIVE EFFORTS BETWEEN THE GETTY AND THE SICILIAN MINISTRY OF CULTURE AND SICILIAN IDENTITY ARISING FROM A 2010 AGREEMENT THAT CALLS FOR A NUMBER OF COLLABORATIVE PROJECTS, INCLUDING OBJECT CONSERVATION, SEISMIC PROTECTION OF COLLECTIONS, EXHIBITIONS, SCHOLARLY RESEARCH AND CONFERENCES. THE AGRIGENTO YOUTH IS THE SECOND MAJOR LOAN TO ARISE FROM THE 2010 AGREEMENT.