Georgios
Fytalis ΓΕΩΡΓΙΟΣ ΦΥTAΛHS
Born
in 1830 Died in 1880
Lazaros
Fytalis LAZAROS ΦΥTAΛHS
Born
in 1831
Died in 1909
.
The Fytalis brothers gained fame as artists and teachers
but they were also savvy business men who, early on, learned the rules of that
art too. They established the most prestigious private school for sculptors in
Athens, worked hard, and built a lasting artistic legacy. Many of their works
can be found in the First Cemetery of Athens.
Their Lives:
Georgios
and Lazaros, the two eldest in a family of five, became sculptors. They acquired
their early training at their father’s marble workshop on Tinos. One brother, Marcos,
was a painter and another, Ioannis, became an architect. It was a winning combination because the four brothers would often
assist each other.
In
1846, at the ages of fifteen and
sixteen, Georgios and Lazaros enrolled in the School of Arts in Athens. They
were fortunate in their teachers. In 1847, Lysandros Kaftantzoglou (1), an alumnus of Accademia
di San Luca in Rome and a man who would become a major name in 19th
century Greek architecture, was appointed Head of the Art school in Athens. He became
a close friend of King Othon and his sponsorship of the Fytalis brothers would prove
important to their success. At the same time, Christian H. Siegal, a German sculptor, joined the school and
taught them the art of modeling figures. Both Headmaster and teacher were firm advocates
of the neoclassical style, then so popular in Europe.
In 1851 Lazaros and Georgos participated
in the World Exhibit of Art with two bas relief copies of the
Parthenon Frieze. In
1856, they entered the Kontostavleios Competition, a
contest sponsored by a wealthy Chiot banker. They won the
first prize of one thousand drachmas for Shepherd Holding a Kid, a work now in the National Sculpture Gallery.
Immortalized in a postage stamp
With
the prize money they opened their own studio–school, the ‘Andriantopieio,’ in the center of Athens on Academias Street. Lazaros,
the more independent-minded brother, left for Paris to continue his studies
under the French sculptor Charles Henri Joseph Cordier; Georgios stayed home and
took care of business.
The
brothers collaborated on many works during their careers, and so seamlessly
that articles sometimes attribute the same work to one or the other brother. It
seems safer for non-experts like ourselves to see all works as emanating from
the Fytalis studio.
The
“Andriantopieio”
Georgos
Fytalis set high and rather harsh standards for his new school. Each student
who enrolled was obliged to bring a guarantor to vouch for him. The guarantor
and candidate cosigned a contract with a notary public. The contract included
the schools’ regulations and their obligations as students. There were no
exceptions to this procedure. A friend or Tinian compatriot went through the
same procedure regardless of close ties to the family. The duration of the
training was two years. Fytalis gave each student a small allowance - just
enough for their meals. The second year he gave them a little more spending
money for their clothes.
The
most famous sculptors who served their apprenticeship at Fytalis’ school were Demitrios Filippotis and Ioannis Vitsaris. It was the common
practice for budding students of sculpture to seek studio work under masters
during their studies before going out on their own. (Some sculptors would
choose to remain with a master and never set up their own studios.) Novices
needed as many hours of practice to learn as much as possible. There was always
something new - a technique of some kind which they could not acquire from the
Art School alone.
Marble sculpting is a collaborative art involving many
stages. Even when stone cutting was considered a
craft as opposed to ‘art’, masters would insist their students learn to draw
and sketch like professional artists as an important preliminary; a good
sculptor had to be an
excellent draftsman.
It is also true that a master might
create the sculpture in plaster or clay and his students then execute the work
under his direction. An interesting example of this is the famous Sleeping
Girl of Yiannoulos Chalepas. He created this
beautiful piece, but others in his workshop actually executed it in marble. (2)
In 1859 and
for nine years thereafter, Giorgos
Fytalis became a professor at the School of Fine Arts in Athens. His studio
continued to thrive. The students and the apprentices
executed many commissions under the brothers’ supervision. Many were destined
for the First Cemetery of Athens.
Commissions in the First Cemetery
Some
might argue that an artist who resorts to funerary monuments for money is
wasting his or her talent. But such commissions back then offered real
benefits: none of the headaches with tenders and competitions, or ulcers with
deadlines, payoffs and committees, not to mention endless articles in the
newspapers about whose statue in a public place was better and why was he chosen
etc. etc. that accompanied any commission from the state or city. The order for a funeral monument was between
the artist and an interested party who wanted something special for his loved
one and was willing to pay good money for it. In many cases, a funeral monument meant more artistic freedom and probably a better guarantee of payment –
no small thing. And funeral
monuments mattered back then. I can imagine that when a prominent family
approached a sculptor for a funeral monument, the fact that he had been chosen over a rival studio
would have both delighted him and honoured his studio.
The Fytalis Brothers in the First Cemetery
According to the dates of death, the
beautiful monument of Theodoros Andreou Louriotis (1855) may be Lazaros Fytalis’ first monument in the cemetery:
Section 1, Number 480
.
This bas relief - a personal favorite – is an
exceptional example of Neo-Classicism at its best. It is solemn and poignant,
suggesting quiet mourning. Its ‘depth’, the way it uses shadow and light makes
a standardized funeral motif unique and special.
A Long View of the Louriotis Grave
Family Konstantinos and Nikolaos Negris:
.
Section 4, Number 183
Gothic in style
and setting!
Philip
K. Pangalos (1881):
Section 1, Number 105
The Giannoulis Family
(1890) opted for a canopy divided into 4 sections and, in each section, a woman
symbolizing Hope, Virtue, Justice and Charity:
Hope
and Virtue
Justice
and Charity
Section 1/115
In the same plot sits Maria Kassimati,
with a distinguished air, but her
statue was executed later by Demitrios
Filippotis. Family plots changed over time:
Family
Tsarlambas:
Section 2/24
One of the daughters Areti Tsarlamba married Odysseos
Androutsos. Through marriage, the family is also related to the poet A.
Valaorites. Markos Tsarlambas was a
member of the Parliament.
Family tomb Lady Law- Peirounaki and Sir Edward
Fitzgerald Law (3): and Eleni Georgiou Xatzanesti
Section 5/583
Sir Edward, a Catholic, is buried
with his Greek wife. His career in Greece
will get its own text.
Section One, Number 156
Tomb of A. Metaxas:
Fytalis Family Tomb:
Section One, Number 123 ( on main
road to Agios Lazarus)
Lazaros Fytalis, outlived his brother George by 29
years, became involved in archeological excavations and, oddly enough, is not
included on the family tombstone. Wikipedia claims that he died in 1909 while
in the Athens Poorhouse. There must be a story there but we cannot unearth it –
yet.
Another Puzzle: The Missing Monument to Kaftantzoglu
When
his friend and advocate Lysandros
Kaftantzoglou died in 1860 Georgios Fytalis created a funeral monument that
caused great public interest. When the plaster cast was completed, the public
was invited to come to their studio and see the result. And
when it was erected in the First Cemetery the newspapers again invited the
people to the unveiling. Strangely, it has disappeared – a mystery because
Kaftantzoglu was so important and the sculptors so famous. If we find a copy, and
the ‘why’ of it, we will post it.
Footnotes
(1) Lysandros Kaftantzoglou was a fascinating figure in his own right. He executed many of the
neoclassical buildings in Athens and was said to be the designer of the Tositsas monument by the Agios Lazarus
church although the Fytalis studio
actually carved it. Oddly enough, it was never signed.
Section 2, Number 7
Michael
Tosistas 1861
Many
architects designed monuments in the First Cemetery, Ernst Ziller, for one
designed the extravagant Negroponte monument as well as that of Heinrich
Schliemann.
(2)There is a marble workshop on the west side of Anapafseos Street where
you can see a sculpture in the making from plaster cast to marble perfection.
We followed this one all during 2016. Take a look and see what is happening
when you pass by on your way to the cemetery. For more in the workshop, see:
March 8 file
(3) In 1892 London
sent Sir Edward Fitzgerald Law to check Greece’s finances; Prime Minister Trikoupis had asked for a loan. Law
found time to fall in love with Aikaterini Chatzopoulou who persuaded him to write
a good financial report for London. He did… But, of course, numbers do not lie
and in November 1893 the Prime Minister had to address the Parliament saying:
“Unfortunately we are bankrupt”… Law survived that embarrassment, stayed in
Greece, and is buried with his lady
love.
Sources
Olga Badema-Fountoulaki Kleanthis
1802-1862, Architect, Businessman and Visionary
http://thesis.ekt.gr/thesisBookReader/id/30368#page/24/mode/1up
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