Charioteer: rare visit to British Museum for Games

A rare Sicilian charioteer sculpture went on display Friday at the British Museum in London in honor of the forthcoming 2012 Olympic Games. In a so-called "victory trail around the collection," the museum is featuring 12 star objects on the theme of winning, including a rarely loaned sculpture from Mozia in Sicily thought to represent a victorious charioteer. "It is considered by many to be one of the finest examples of classical Greek marble sculpture to survive," exhibit organizers said. Experts believe the statue was set up to commemorate a win at one of the major games in a Greek city in Sicily. It will be exhibited in the Parthenon gallery for the first time in Britain. In exchange, Sicily will receive the Apollo of Strangford, a kouros statue to show at the Giuseppe Whitaker Museum in Mozia. After its stay in London, the charioteer will travel to the Getty Museum in Los Angeles.