A fallen warrior at Agrigento

Akriagas (Agrigento), the last major Greek settlement in Sicily, was founded in 581 BC. in 406 BC the Carthaginians besieged Akragas for 8 months. Many temples on the south side of the town were destroyed as the defences broke, and the town was sacked.

The main group of monuments still extant are a series of Greek temples which run along a ridge on the southern edge of the city. This one, known as the Temple of Concord, was built around 440BC and was later converted into a Christian church.

The bronze statue is modern, the work of the Italian-based Polish sculptor Igor Mitoraj. Mitoraj's sculptural style is rooted in the classical tradition with its focus on the well modelled torso. However, he introduces a post-modern twist with ostentatiously truncated limbs, emphasising the damage sustained by most genuine classical sculptures.

Mitoraj, and most ancient Greek sculptors, correctly depict the fact that in humans the right testicle is located somewhat higher than the left one. Historians and scientists have spent an inordinate amount of time worrying about this. See, for example, this article.