Demitrios Filippotis

Demitrios  Filippotis                                              ΔΗΜΗΤΡΗΣ  ΦΙΛΙΠΠΟΤΗΣ           

Born in 1834                                                                Died in 1919

 Painted by Pericles Lytra

Dynamic, tireless, something of a romantic and, above all a patriot, Demitris Filippotis was a sculptor who struggled throughout his career to modernize and raise the standards of his art, an art which he equated with the good of the nation - of Greece. He preferred to be called an artisan rather than a sculptor, and believed that his work should be judged only by fellow artisans.

His Life

Demitrios, like all of the other sculptors from Tinos, grew up in his father’s workshop where, from an early age, he learned the basics of the sculptor’s art. In 1858, he enrolled in the School of Arts in Athens and during his first year, studied under the great Bavarian sculptor Christian H. Siegel. The director of the Polytechnic, (and therefore of the Arts School as well) was Lysandros Kaftantzoglou (Λύσανδρος Καυταντζόγλου) an architect who would do much to define and influence the emerging aesthetic of the new capital.  Kaftantzoglou was one of King Othon’s intimate associates and had been the king’s personal choice for the post.

As anti-royalist feelings in Greece swelled against King Othon in 1859, so did student sentiment against his friend Kaftantzoglou. Filippotis and others who had been expelled by Kaftantzoglou signed a petition demanding that his post  be given to the sculptor Ioannis Kossos and they be reinstated once more. Turbulent times for young and idealistic artists! 

Concurrent with his studies, Filippotis was gaining practical experience working at the studio of Georgos Fytalis, one of his teachers at the school of Arts. It was a good choice. Fytalis had the top studio in Athens at the time. 

In 1864, Filippotis was granted a scholarship from the Evangelistrias Foundation of Tinos (1) and went to Rome and the famous Accademia di San Luca; a mecca for aspiring sculptors in the 19^th century. There he studied under the tutelage of Emil Wolff. 

The Greek students in Rome founded the Guild for Greek Artists in Rome the purpose of which was to offer economic support and promote the interests of the Greeks studying there. The majority of students simply could not afford to buy the necessary art supplies. According to its charter, the Guild would help those in need by supplying the necessary funds.

At times during his studies, Filippotis would find himself back in Athens, working in one sculptor’s studio or another to earn enough money to continue. One day he got lucky because King George l, King Othon’s successor, was both a collector and patron of the arts and enjoyed visiting the various sculptors’ studios to see any new works in progress.  At that time, marble busts were the fashion, and many sculptors made sure to include a bust of the king in their studio’s collection. King George became so enthusiastic when he saw the bust that Filippotis was working on that he offered to finance the rest of his studies in Rome, an act of generosity which gained the heartfelt gratitude of the young artist. He later wrote that because of this scholarship, “I was sensitive to the responsibility and the duty … and worked thereafter with zeal as a scholar of my king.” (4)

When the king bought Filippotis’ The Small Fisherman (Μικρό Ψαρά), the general opinion was that the king had taken the young artist firmly under his wing. 

Back in Rome, Filippotis created more works. The Small Harvester won him first prize in an Italian competition. This award was soon followed by two others for the Amazon and Aphrodite. 

The Small Harvester (1870), at the Zappeion gardens in Athens

Upon returning to Athens, Filippotis found work with Yiannoulis Chalepas in his studio near Syntagma Square until which time he was able to purchase his own small work shop at 38 Patission Street. Often the neigbours there would report seeing him chiseling marble out in the street where the light was better!

Technique in the Era of Filippotis

Filippotis would make use of live models, photographs, casts, and even funeral masks at times. He made good use of calipers and a curved tool called a koumbasa, an instrument which could be calibrated by a pin to aid in the accurate transfer details onto marble. 

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This task became easier when he began to use a version of the pointing machine. Apparently one of his students had introduced this new fangled contraption to him and he had been somewhat doubtful about it - at the beginning.

A Chronological Look at Filippotis’ Many Works in the First Cemetery

The Grave of Eleni Kallivoursou (ΕΛΕΝΗ ΚΑΛΛΙΒΟΥΡΣΟΥ)(1870)

Section One, Number 236

Filippotis created this monument while still working in the studio of Halepas. Its execution caused a lot of controversy because of its blend of neoclassicism (the subject) and realism (the execution). Conservative artists and the public, at first, did not like it. He had broken away from the strict neoclassicism which had dictated that the subjects of contemporary sculptors (and painters for that matter) had to look as if they would be equally at home in the Athens of Pericles.

The Monument of Richard Church (1874)

Section Two, Number 28

His choice of realistic portraiture and presenting his new subjects in contemporary clothes had been influenced by the Swiss Sculptor Vincenzo Vela. His bent for realism and modernism, was also influenced by the Belgian sculptor Constantin Emile Meunier.  The style caught on and, in short order, Filippotis became the acknowledged and preferred expert in the sculpting realistic busts. These were particularly in demand for funeral monuments. Every order, once fulfilled, would bring him new business.

The years between 1870 and 1904 were his most prolific and one of his works that of Emmanuel Efstratiou, at least for us, epitomizes the new style at its best:

The Family Tomb of Emmanuel Efstratiou (ΕΜΜΑΝΟΥΗΛ ΕΥΣΤΡΑΤΙΟΥ)(1882)

Section 4, Number 464

This monument bears a close look. It is elegant: the gloves, the costume, the facial expression and that small step forward out of the frame: just exquisite!  The family was happy to commission Filippotis again:

The funeral stele of Eleni Efstratiou(ΕΛΕΝΗ ΕΥΣΤΡΑΤΙΟΥ) (1883)

 Section 4, Number 412 

This monument is directly opposite that of her husband Emmanuel. They were an interesting family. Eleni chose to have both her governess (Ines Masera Karfreit) and her beloved friend (Marie Jeannin) buried in close proximity.  

Efthimios Kechagias (EΥΘΥΜΙΟΣ ΚΕΧΑΓΙΑΣ) (1886)

Section One, Number 36

 He was a prominent banker with the National Bank of Greece.

 

Maria Kassimati (ΜΑΡΙΑ ΚΑΣΣΙΜΑΤΗ) (1890)

Section One, Number 115

Athenians were surprised when they learned that Maria Kassimati (an independent and wealthy woman who had left a great deal of her wealth for educational scholarships) had chosen to be buried in the precincts of tomb of her first husband. Some gossips suggested that this choice of venue may have been an attempt on her part to upstage her husband’s monument, the work of the Fytalis brothers. Whether intentional, or not, it certainly did that! A life size indomitable looking Victorian lady sitting in a chair plumb in the middle of their somewhat old fashioned (in comparison) neoclassical tour de force draws the startled attention  of almost everyone walking down the wide street leading to the Agios Lazarus church.

Piniatoros (1892)

Section Seven, Number 494

The tomb of the Tsopotou (ΤΣΟΠΟΤΟΥ) Family (1893)

Section Two, Number 254

Emmanuel Haldouvaki (ΕΜΜΑΝΟΥΗΛ ΧΑΛΔΟΥΒΑΚΗ) (1893)

Section Five, Number 118 

 The Kouppas (ΚΟΥΠΠΑΣ) Monument (1895)

Section Four, Number 582

Filippotis was responsible for the Karyatids inside the mausoleum. The tomb itself was the work of the architect Ioannis Mousis, a proponent of the Beaux -Arts style. 

Sotiris Sotiropoulos (ΣΩΤΗΡΗΣ ΣΩΤΗΡΟΠΟΥΛΟΣ) (1901)

Section 8, Number 352

The Valetta Monument (ΒΑΛΕΤΤΑ) ( 1901)

Section One, Number 8

Mausoleum of George Averoff (Γεώργιος Αβέρωφ): the Plaza (1904) (3)   

Section 1, Number 70

Giorgio de Chirico who was a student at the Polytechnic between 1903 and 1905 remembers the workshop of Filippotis being chock full of pendelic marble and remembers the paper hat that Filippotis was wont to wear while working amidst chips and marble dust. People used to call him the ‘marble eater’! 

Filoppotis close friends were the painters Nikiforas Lytras and Constantinos Volanakis.

The three friends preferred the basement tavernas rather than the company of intellectuals.

His students numbered such luminaries as Georgios Bonanos (Γεώργιος Μπονάνος), Loukas Doukas, (Λουκάς Δούκας) and Ioannis Koulouris (Γιαννούλης Κουλούρης) who worked alongside him until the end and would inherit all of his tools and the contents of his studio. Towards the end of his life, Filippotis was honoured twice by a grateful nation: in 1908 he was granted the Cross of the Saviour (Το Σταυρό του Σωτήρος) and in 1915 The Medal of Letters and Arts (Μεταλλείο Γραμμάτων και Τεχνών). His  own family plot is simplicity itself. Apparently it was purchased in 1880 for 125 drachmas.

Section 5, Number 42
Map

Footnotes

 (1) In 1864, the Evangelistrias Foundation also gave scholarships to Nikolaos Gyzis Ν. Γκύζη and Constantinos Apergis  Κ. Απέργη.

(2) The funeral monument of Emmanuel had been ordered by his son-in-law, a banker named Theologos. He was so happy with it that apparently other commissions for family members followed. When these monuments were in place and seen by the public, the opinion of Athenians was that they not only honoured the first cemetery by their excellence, but all of Athens! 

(3) The original plan was completed by the sculptor G. Vitalis (Γ. Βιτάλης) but when he died suddenly the committee in charge of the mausoleum gave the commission to Filippotis to complete. No one knows whether Filippotis actually used  Vytalis’ plan or made up his own.  Filippotis also made the bust of Averoff that is now in the museum on Tinos. 

Sources

1.     «Ο γλύπτης Δημήτριος Φιλιππότης και η εποχή του», Ευθυμία Μαυρομιχάλη  (http://www.didaktorika.gr/eadd/handle/10442/30368)

2.      Jason Arkles “The Sculptor’s Funeral” podcast (http://www.thesculptorsfuneral.com/)

3.     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWs5ugtiWYU  An excellent 15 minute documentary of Filippotis