Dernière mise à jour le 4 septembre 2024 par L'équipe Divernet
Des plongeurs du sud de la Sicile ont récupéré la sculpture d'un cheval cabré, que l'on pense être un ornement de marbre perdu depuis longtemps, provenant du temple de Zeus dans l'ancienne ville d'Agrigente.
The frieze had been lying about 9m down in the Mediterranean Sea, about 300m off the coast at San Leone, a small town near the mouth of the Akragas river.
Its presence had been known about for some time, but had been dismissed in an archaeological survey as a ‘tub’ or ‘tank’ of no significance.
La Sicile, ou Sikelia, était une colonie grecque entre le VIIIe et le Ve siècle avant JC et un centre de la civilisation méditerranéenne occidentale. San Leone se trouve juste au sud de la ville moderne d'Agrigente.
The volunteer members of the BC Sicily Underwater Group said that they had never been convinced that the heavily concreted artefact was merely a discarded modern receptacle.
Led by Gaetano Lino, they dived it in October 2022 to obtain a series of photographs, from which they produced a 3D model.
This made it clear that the object was indeed a carving, and this was reported to the Superintendency of the Sea.
However, it was only after two previous attempts had been defeated by turbulent seas that it was finally able to be lifted for conservation on 2 February.
L'opération a été réalisée par des plongeurs carabiniers en présence de responsables de la Surintendance de la Mer et du Groupe sous-marin BC Sicile.
Horses were an iconic element in artistic representations from the Greek period, and the frieze, which measure 2 x 1.6 x 0.35m, was almost certainly made of Proconnesian marble, says the group.
This coarse-grained white stone with blue veins was supplied from the island of Propontis, off what is now Türkiye.
Également sur Divernet : Ancre de dauphin levée en Sicile, Une profonde épave au large de la Sicile produit des bocaux, Les plongées découvrent d'anciens marchands de vin, Découverte d'anciens béliers de navires de guerre
