Miami – Thanks to a loan agreement signed between Italy’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and the Ministry of Culture, an exceptional archaeological masterpiece is on display in the entrance hall of the Patricia and Phillip Frost Art Museum in Miami through 19 July. The exhibit features the Head of Ulysses (1st century BC–1st century AD), part of the sculptural group depicting the Blinding of Polyphemus, from the Archaeological Park of the Villa of Tiberius and the National Archaeological Museum of Sperlonga, in the province of Latina. The sculpture originally belonged to the group representing the Blinding of Polyphemus, the episode from Homer’s Odyssey in which Ulysses and his companions blind the Cyclops before making their escape. The head is an outstanding example of ancient craftsmanship, distinguished by its powerful expressive quality: the tangled, unkempt beard, long locks of hair, furrowed brow and pronounced brow ridges convey remarkable artistic mastery. Traces of paint on the cloak of what has been identified as the corresponding body suggest that the entire sculptural group was once vividly coloured. (9colonne)