Frost. Giuseppe Alessi of Archeoambiente contests the slowness of the leadership of the archaeological park. “Due to the unorthodox line followed by the Director of the PA of Gela, architect. Luigi Gattuso due to the delay, over three years, from the donation request formulated by the Archeo-Environment, the city of Gela suffers a hard blow. The donation project regarding the transfer to the archaeological museum of the bronze charioteer of Delphi, located in the Macchitella grove, was rejected. This copy, compliant with the original exhibited in the Delphi Museum with its base next to it, on which it was positioned, with the following inscription: “Votive offering of the tyrant Polizelo, of Gela”. It was donated to E. Mattei in the 1960s. It should be noted that both the Admin had already given a written favorable opinion on 20 July 2020. Commun. – given the favorable opinion issued by the Reg. Department. to BB. CC.- and both the Macchitella neighborhood committee, on the condition that said statue was replaced at the same time with another copy, also made of material other than bronze. This commitment, so economically burdensome, had been undertaken in writing by the Archeo-Ambiente, just consider the restoration of the statue, the addition of the stolen bridles and the two fingers broken due to vandalism, as well as adequately fulfilling the project with all the annexes of donation sent to the direction of P. Arch. Di Gela. On 6/02/24, finally, the donation proposal of the CTS, made up of five members – the archaeologist K. Ingoglia, the archaeologist R. Panvini, the ‘archit. Superint. D. Vullo, Dr. P. Nicoletti and the lawyer. Mayor of Gela L. Greco. The first member expressed denial, as he asserts that there is no certainty that the inscription on the lithic base found in 1896 in the Sanctuary of Delphi next to the statue can be attributed to the tyrant Polizelo of Gela; the second member communicated refusal to place the statue inside the Museum, as it is contrary to the copies. It should be noted that Panvini, in one of her publications in “Gela” on page. 69, states that this statue, part of a bronze group, was dedicated in the sanctuary of Delphi for the victory achieved in the races by Polizelo in 474, as indicated by the inscription at its base in 474/478 BC. C. The third member also expressed opposition; the 4th and 5th members expressed a favorable opinion. As for the Director. of the PA of Gela, he had the right to decide alone until December 2022, since the CTS took office after that date. What should be highlighted, however, is the diversity and speed implemented by the previous Director of the PA of Gela in welcoming archaeol into the Museum. the donation made on 03/08/2017 by the Archeo-Ambiente relating to the certified copy of the mammoth and rare gorgonian mask that was in the center of the pediment of the Atenaion (first half of the 6th century BC), found in Gela, but exposed to P. Orsi of Syracuse. There are various examples of important copies that can be found in various European museums. At the Pergamon Museum in Berlin there is the famous ISHTAR Gate of the city of Babylon (6th century BC) reconstructed with some original fragments, but not on a 1:1 scale, so it can be considered a copy. In the Museum of Athens there is the RAMPIN equestrian statue (550 BC) with original body and horse, while the head is a replica of the original found in the Louvre in Paris”, writes Alessi in a note.
