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The Babe with Bonnet (The Infant)

Nikos Sofialakis

The Nikos Sofialakis Center of Neoclassical Sculpture

The Nikos Sofialakis Center of Neoclassical Sculpture
ATHENS, Greece

Portrait of the "Babe with Bonnet", also known as "The Infant".

(Front View of the Babe with Bonnet)

The Babe with Bonnet, also known as "The Infant", was sculpted in 1943. Nikos Sofialakis modeled the Babe after a neighbor's infant that was fortunate to have survived the harsh winter of 1941-1942 during the Axis occupation of Greece in World War II. This period, known as the Great Famine, witnessed the height of the mortality rate in Greece due to hunger, as the country was plundered by the Axis Powers and simultaneously was blockaded by Allied Forces. The death toll of the Great Famine totalled approximately 300,000 lives before the Red Cross was allowed to enter and distribute supplies to the people in crisis.

This infant is an exposition on the consequences of war as told by the youngest and most vulnerable members of society - the children. The young babe bundled in its bonnet is a testament to human resilience and yet human fragility as it endures the pangs of hunger and war with ineffable sadness.

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  • Title: The Babe with Bonnet (The Infant)
  • Creator: Nikos Sofialakis
  • Date: 1941/1943
  • Date Created: 1941/1943
  • Location: Athens, Greece
  • Physical Dimensions: Sculpture
  • Subject Keywords: Babe, Infant, Bonnet, WWII, Great Famine, Sofialakis
  • Type: Bust
  • Physical Medium: Marble of Mount Penteli
  • Photo Credits: The Nikos Sofialakis Center of Neoclassical Sculpture
  • Gallery: The Nikos Sofialakis Center of Neoclassical Sculpture
  • Exhibitions: The Babe with Bonnet was first presented in 1945 at the Parnassos Exhibition in Athens, Greece. In 1946 it was presented at the joint exhibition of painter Hara Vienna and Nikos Sofialakis at the Parnassos Hall in Athens, Greece, and later at the Artists' Exhibition at the Hellenic-French Union in the same year. The Babe with Bonnet was also exhibited at the Cairo International Exhibition of 1947, at the 1948 Pan-Hellenic Artists' Exhibition in Athens, Greece, and at the 1956 exhibition at the atelier of Nikos Sofialakis in Athens, Greece.
  • Dimensions: 23cm x 23cm
The Nikos Sofialakis Center of Neoclassical Sculpture

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