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“La kilix blu – Delos” is another artwork by Walter Capezzali 

Kilix the cup used in banquets, but also for sacred ceremonies, a tribute to Greek history that has always inspired Walter Capezzali

“La kilix blu – Delos” in the Greek mythology

In ancient times the island was called Ortigia (Ortyghia). Archaeological finds have shown that the island was already inhabited as early as 3000 BC. on the top of Mount Cinto. The colonists of the island (around 1000 BC) were then supplanted by the Mycenaeans who probably brought the cult of Apollo, god of light and music and of Artemis, goddess of the Moon and hunting, worshiped in triad with their mother Latona.

Subsequently, the figure of the god Apollo prevailed over the other deities and the sanctuary of Apollo, already famous in Homeric times, reached its maximum splendor in the archaic (VIII-VII century BC) and classical (V-IV century BC) times.

In the third and second centuries BC it became an independent city-state, and the largest slave market in Greece. The Greeks considered it a sign of prestige to erect monuments and make generous offerings to the sanctuary.

Delos declined after the sacking of Mithridates VI, king of Pontus (86 BC), when its monuments were destroyed and the inhabitants (about 20,000) were killed, even if scholars today tend to revise a similar figure downwards. In the Roman period, Delos experienced a new period of rebirth and building expansion, which was followed in the late empire by an era of progressive decline until its definitive abandonment. In 1400 the humanist Ciriaco d’Ancona visited the island and described the remains of the sculptures still present, among which an archaic colossal statue of Apollo stood out. In 1500 the Venetians, led by Morosini, took away one of the marble lions of the cd. “Terrace of the lions” to embellish the entrance to the Venice Arsenal.

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