52 Reasons to Love Sicily | #20. Outstanding Ancient Art

There are extraordinary pieces of ancient art throughout Sicily–even in the smallest of museums. One example is in the Museo Whitaker of Mozia off of Sicily’s west coast. The world-renowned “Youth of Motya” or “Motya Charioteer” is a mid-5th century BCE statue made of Parian marble. It was uncovered on the Island of Motya (or Mozia) in…

Go Figurines

The mixing of cultures throughout the Mediterranean, especially in coastal cities and towns, is evident throughout Sicily. Record of such are these “ushabti” housed in the G. Whitaker Museum on Mozia near Marsala. Ushabti are funerary figurines that were common in Ancient Egypt. Buried with the dead, they represent servants or serfs for the deceased…

Coral Salt Earrings

Jewelry-designer Daniela Neri created these unique earrings that recall Sicilian ceramics with tarantella dancers. Daniela is a native of Trapani, and she takes the salt from the local salt flats and makes “coral” out of it–in other words, the beads that you see are not made of semi-precious stones, shells, coral, or glass, but of…

“Pip” Whitaker

On the island of Mozia, off of Marsala, is the G. Whitaker Museum, named for Giuseppe, or Joseph Whitaker (1850-1936), who was affectionately known as “Pip.” Pip was the son of Joseph Whitaker, Senior, an entrepreneur from West Yorkshire, England. The Whitakers, like their industrious counterparts the Woodhouses, Hopps, Inghams, and Pynes, came to Sicily…