Athens First Cemetery in English: Georgios Vroutos, Sculptor

Georgios Vroutos ΓΕΩΡΓΙΟΣ ΒΡΟΥΤΟΣ

The man who loved classicism

1843-1909

The art of marble sculpture in modern Greece can be typified by the work of three great artists: the classicist and traditionalist Georgios Vroutos, the work of Demitrios Filippotis who broke the bonds of the classical canon, and Georgios Vitsaris whose work represents the arrival of the age of modernity.

The sculptor Geogios Vroutos was born in Athens in 1843 to a family with Cretan roots. From 1859 to 1864, he studied at the School of Fine Arts in Athens under the tutelage of Georgios Fytalis. During his student years, like so many students at the school, he worked,- in his case at the workshop of sculptor Ioannis Kossos.

1866 found him studying in Rome thanks to a scholarship from Queen Olga, the wife of the king George. He attended the French Academy followed by three years at the Accademia di San Luca under the eye of Filipo Niakarini among others, and a further three years at the collection which Prince Torlonia had acquired at his villa in Rome. Prince Torlonia’s vast collection of ancient classical sculpture was said to rival even the Vatican’s.

Initially taught by classicists in Athens, then influenced by the classical tradition in Paris and Rome, Georgios returned to Greece in 1873 well grounded in the genre’s ideals: balance, harmony, clarity, vigor, and, where appropriate, manliness. He opened his own workshop on Filellinon Street opposite today’s Presbyterian Church. On the gable of his workshop was a relief depicting an archaic scene. That and the many plaster busts of Greek gods and heroes created the illusion of entering a workshop in an ancient Greek city.

On April 7 1875, at the entrance of the University, Vroutos rendered in marble the stunning statue of Adamandias Korais which had been conceived in plaster by his mentor Ioannis Kossos. (Kossos died in 1875 and Vroutos had taken over his studio.)

Adamantios Korais, at the Entrance to the University

This elegant statue embodies all of the essential classical tendencies, this time in honour of a modern hero of the Greek state.

It is interesting to note that one of his works, The Spirit of Copernicus, (conceived in plaster in Rome in 1873 and transferred into marble in 1877) hinted at a bolder and more revolutionary tendency.

On view at The National Sculpture Gallery

When it was displayed, there was a review by Gregoris Xenopoylos in the Athens newspaper Estia:

“I found in this particular work something superior to systematic austerity both in its conception and in its execution. The soul of the young artist was laid bare –inexperienced still – but talented - and boldly ready to reach towards unknown heights.”

However, it also received strong criticism from the conservative art circles of his day and Vroutos began to doubt the value of the work. He would later disavow it.

It may have been the criticism or simply the fact that he was inundated with so many commissions to produce work in the classical vein that led him to continue to work exclusively in the classical tradition.

Vroutos in The First Cemetery

Section 5, Number 764

The bust of his teacher Ioannis Kossou (ΙΩΑΝΝΗΣ ΚΟΣΣΟΥ) (1822-1875)

This sculpture of his mentor reveals a very human touch, especially if you compare it to many of the bland busts atop other imposing steles in the cemetery. (It has to be said that some of these bland efforts were also by Vroutos. When it came to cemetery monuments, many customers in that period insisted on rather ‘idealized’ marble faces sternly staring into eternity.) Of course, Kossos had been his mentor and perhaps this bust got special treatment. The sculptor’s tools embossed on the stele are a lovely touch.

Section 1, Number 430A

The family tomb of Pandoleona G Zugomala (ΠΑΝΤΟΛΕΩΝΤΑ Γ. ΖΥΓΟΜΑΛ)

Section 1, Number 142

The family tomb of P N Bathis (Π.Ν. ΒΑΘΗ) 1878

Section 4, Number 354

Erriko Traiber ( ΕΡΙΚΩ ΤΡΑΙΜΠΕΡ) ( a German philhellene)

Sec. 4, Number 568

Ioannis M Bagas (ΙΩΑΝΝΗΣ Μ, ΜΠΑΓΑΣ)

Section 4, Number 351

Evangelos Sanopoulos (ΕΥΑΓΓΕΛΟΣ ΣΑΝΟΠΟΥΛΟΣ)

Section 1, Number 100

Family grave of A F Papadaki (Α.Φ. ΠΑΠΑΔΑΚΗ), the great benefactor of Νational and Κapodistrian University.

This is the one that most people remember. Its placement in the First Cemetery in 1880 was an occasion for Vroutos to again express in marble the classical canon, - a tour de force reminding the public that contemporary sculptors should not feel obliged to follow the new European tendencies that were inspired by everyday life, - that, for the sculptors in Greece and especially in Attica where the past was so manifest, the ideal inspiration for the artist was the Acropolis! Art should be ‘writ large’ in celebration of the grand happenings of ‘national history’, to echo battle hymns and so on.

It is hard to imagine the kind of restrictions faced by artists in Vroutos’ day would influence artistic expression today. But the truth was that artists who tried to escape classicism back then and produce something more contemporary, found themselves commercially on the sidelines.

Still, tastes were slowly changing. Artists like Demitrios Filippotis and Georgios Vitsaris would bring the art of sculpture into modernity.

Having said that, the appeal of classicism, and not just in Greece, has lasted well into the 20^th century and keeps resurfacing whenever ‘high seriousness’ is deemed to be required. For example, in 1922 when the Americans wanted to create a statue of Lincoln to symbolize his greatness and their pride, they chose to place him seated inside a Doric temple.

Vroutos led an active life. In 1882, he was a founding member of The Historical and Ethnological Society of Greece. Its mission was to collect, preserve and promote relics and testimonies illuminating the history of Modern Greece. In 1883 He became a professor of sculpture at the Athens School of Fine Arts. In 1888 he became a member of the French Academy in Paris.

Section 4, Number 206

Afendouli Pandou (AFENTOYLH PANTOU) 1882

Section 4/574

The Roma (ΡΩΜΑ) family ( 1897-1898). This over the top monument placed by a wealthy family from Zakynthos is one of my favorites because of its sheer chutzpah.

A later work, the Twelve Gods (Το Δωδεκάθεο) was bought by the director of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts along with two other works: Paris and Achilles.

His Olympic Moment

In 1896, the day before the first modern Olympic Games opened, his life size rendering of Georgios Averoff was placed in front of the stadium’s entrance in the presence of Olympic dignitaries and royalty. Averoff had spent a fortune refurbishing the stadium for the games. Vroutos’ sculpture was so well received, he enthusiastically created 12 plaster statues of Winged Victory to be handed out as trophies for any foreign winners.