![Ancient Roman Statue of a Child Satyr Wearing a Theater Mask of an Old Satyr. The Art Institute of Chicago. [OC] [4000x3256]](https://preview.redd.it/lmvfio9bz9uh1.jpeg?auto=webp&s=de9c9c43a42c8e8638520c25ade4373e998929db)
A young satyr thrusts his hand through the mouth of a theater mask of an old satyr. The old satyr is Silenus, the elderly, wise, and frequently intoxicated companion to Dionysus.
Originally dated first century AD. Made of marble. Partially restored in 1628 when quite a few details had been added.
The Nuragic civilization left no written records, so the objects they left behind are the only means to learn about them. These figurines, native to Sardinia, were crafted between the 9th and 6th centuries BCE.
While Viking horned helmets exist only in popular culture, the Nuragic soldiers actually had horned helmets, as these bronzetti demonstrate.
Nuraghe Losa is one of the best-preserved and the largest Nuraghe towers in Sardinia.
If you are in Sardinia and have the time to see only one Nuraghe, see this one.
Pictures were taken on July 3rd, 2026.
20 pictures of the Giants of Mont'e Prama created by the Nuragic civilization of Sardinia.
The dating of their creation varies between the 11th and the 8th century BC.
They were discovered in 1974 near Mont'e Prama in pieces, but were put together and exhibited in early 2010s. One of the most interesting features of these 8.5 feet tall statues is the round eyes, which look pretty abstract. They also have braids and some of the helmets used to have the horns attached - you can still see the stumps where the horns used to be.
There are conflicting accounts online wrt exactly where these statues are currently located. Looks like for some time some of them had been in Cagliari. But as of July 2026 - none of these statues are in the Cagliari museum, all of them are in the Cabras museum.
The Necropolis of Anghelu Ruju is the largest pre-Nuragic cemetery in Sardinia. Locally, these tombs are called "fairy houses." The tombs mimic actual houses with features like doors, windows, and staircases. It is like an underground house, just smaller...
Photos are taken on July 2nd, 2026.
7/1/2026
Open-air museum containing the "pietre sonore" (sound stones) of sculptor Pinuccio Sciola (1942-2016), monoliths of limestone, basalt, and granite grooved so they resonate and produce tones when stroked.
Definitely worth the visit if you are anywhere near Cagliari.
One of the most unusual things I saw on my Sardinia trip.
One of the tallest surviving Nuragic towers (about 17 m) and also one of the grandest, most sophisticated Bronze Age megalithic complexes in Sardinia, Italy. Dates back to around 1600 BC and showcases the pinnacle of the Nuragic architecture.
Pictures were taken on July 3rd, 2026.
Tharros is an ancient Phoenician city on the Sinis Peninsula in western Sardinia.
It was founded by Phoenician merchants between 12th and 8th century BCE (there are different dates from different sources) over a pre-existing Nuragic settlement.
Now it is an open-air museum.
Pictures were taken on July 4th, 2026.
For those who's new to this - Nuraghe is an ancient megalithic stone tower found exclusively on the Italian island of Sardinia.
These towers are made out of massive irregular blocks of stones with an outer wall, an inner wall, and a spiral passage between those walls that goes to the top of the tower. There is packed stone rubble between the walls, acting as a shock absorber. The structure would collapse w/o that rubble. The complexity of building that thing from the ground up completely without mortar while keeping all these structural details (inner/outer walls, rubble, passage, chambers, niches, etc.) in mind is hard to imagine.
Pictures are taken on July 1st, 2026.
July 5th, 2026
