Παραστάσεις του Αριστοτέλη στη Νεοελληνική τέχνη

Abstract

The first known representation of Aristotle in any ecclesiastical monument in the Hellenic territory dates from 1401 in the church of Saint George (Aghios Georgios) Viannos in Crete. The last on the line of ecclesiastical representations of Aristotle (13th) was made in 1858 in the portico of the Vatopedi monastery.

The introduction of the philosopher’s representation in the neo-Helle­ nic art is made with the —missing today— work of the monk of Athos, hagiographist, Nikiforos from Agrafa early in the 19th C, in which the philosopher’s face is copied by some statue of his. The still existing painted representations are the following:

—Fresco from 1887, in the mansion of N. Tsirlis in Nymphaion of Fiorina, by Nikolaos Papayiannis from Kleisoura. Fresco from 1888, on the frieze of Athens University, by Lebintzky, based on a drawing by Rahl. Fresco from 1938 in the townhall of Athens, by Kontoglou. Portrait from 1953, in the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (A.U.T.), by Giannis D. Kasolas. A composition consisting of many persons «Aristotle teaching Alexander» from 1954, in the A.U.T., by Pavlos I. Pandelakis. A portrait from 1978, in the hotel «Athos» in Kassandra, by loannis Vranos. Portrait from 1985, in a private collection, by loannis Vranos.

The first sculptural representation of Aristotle, 1954, is in the A.U.T. by Nikos Perantinos. It’s a bust based on the well known bust of Vienna, and so do the following sculptures too :

The bust in the Hellenic War College in Thessaloniki, by the same artist. The bust in the «Bundescunt für geistiges Eigentum» in Geneva, also by the same artist. The sculpture of the standing figure, 1956, in Stageira (Sidirokausia) Chalkidiki, by Nikolas. The bust in the National Institution of Meteorology in London, 1978, by the same artist. The bust in the National Meteorological Service in Hellenikon (Athens), 1970, by Nikolas. The bust in the «library of the Archaeologists» in Washington D.C. 1978, also by the same artist. Relief representation «Aristotle teaching Alexander the Great», 1969, in the Cultural Centre in Fiorina, by Nikolaos Dogoulis. Sculpture of Aristotle in sitting position, 1991, in Plateia Aristotelous, Thessaloniki, by Giorgos Georgiadis.

In miniature the most important representations are: The metal coin of five drachmas, cut originally in 1976, based on the bust of the museum of Ihermae, Rome, by Thodoros Papayiannis. Hie commemorative medal of the A.U.T. in 1978, for the 2,300 years of Aristotle, based on the bust of Vienna, by Evangelos Moustakas.