Obverse: A Chimera Advancing to the Left
Reverse: A Dove Flying to the Left within an Olive
Branch
Sikyon, a town 11 miles northwest of Corinth in
the northern Peloponnese, was for the arts in
antiquity what Athens was for philosophy.
According to legend, it was here that Prometheus
first brought the fire to mankind perhaps
signaling the city’s significant role in the cultural
enlightenment of the ancient world. Although
famed for her many influential sculptors, the
artistic influence extended beyond sculpture. It
is a little known fact that tragedy was born in the
theatres of Sikyon as early as the 7th century B.C.
and that the compositional rules of painting,
rediscovered almost two thousand years later
during the Renaissance, were first developed
here in antiquity and eventually spread
throughout the Hellenistic world. As the first
settlement of the Achaeans, Sikyon is therefore
the oldest city-state of Greece. Overall, much of
what we know to be Greek, the artistic,
theatrical, and political developments of their
culture, had their origins in the ancient city of
Sikyon.
How many hands have touched a coin in your
pocket or purse? What eras and lands have the
coin traversed on its journey into our
possession? As we reach into our pockets to pull
out some change, we rarely hesitate to think of
who might have touched the coin before us, or
where the coin will venture to after it leaves our
hands. More than money, coins are a symbol of
the state that struck them, of a specific time and
location, whether contemporary currencies or
artifacts of a long forgotten empire. This
stunning hand-struck coin reveals an expertise
of craftsmanship and intricate sculptural detail
that is often lacking in contemporary machine-
made currencies. This ancient coin is a memorial
to the cultural glories of Sikyon passed from the
hands of civilization to civilization, from
generation to generation that still appears as
vibrant today as the day it was struck.
- (C.2079)
|
