have made several trips to Sicily and it like most tourists I visited the sites of the early Greek settlements, Agrigento, Segesta and Selinunte. Fortunately I was able to see Selinunte over thirty years ago before its most recent upgrade. Then you could walk out from the great temples, through the largely unexcavated remains of the town and out into the olive groves of the modern landscape. Today the sites, once inside are much as they were but they are now surrounded by car-parks. But I too had come by car…
Temple, Segesta
2001. Oil on canvas. 30 x 36 in (75 x 90 cm).
Strange spikes of agave flowers frame the hilltop temple at Segesta.
Segesta from the car
2001. Oil on canvas. 36 x 30 in (90 x 75 cm).
You catch your first glimpse of the hill-top temple at Segesta as you drifve into the car-park. As with the desert garden at Tempe, the contrast between the banality of the automobile and its amazing setting is what caught my eye.
Dusk falling, Selinunte
2001. Oil on canvas. 24 x 30 in (60 x 75 cm).
A stray dog wanders among the ruins of past splendour as dusk falls on Selinunte.
Selinunte with palm
2001. Oil on canvas. 30 x 36 in (75 x 90 cm).
The ruined temples at on the promontory at Selinunte are what remains after two millenia plus several earthquakes. Early greek sailors who saw the temples appear over the horizon must have thought them miraculous.
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