The Army-Camp of Karaiskakis (1855) by Vryzakis TheodorosNational Gallery of Greece - Alexandros Soutsos Museum
This painting depicts the atmosphere that prevailed in the Greek camp on the eve of the Battle of Athens- an attempt to break the siege of the Acropolis by Kütahı’s troops (April 23/24, 1827).
In the foreground, the fighters enjoy a moment of repose- an opportunity for the artist to capture it in vivid detail.
In the mid-ground on the right, the eye is guided towards the hill from which the leading officers of the army survey the battlefield.
In the background on the left, the Acropolis as well as the Lycabettus and Fillopappos hills are clearly delineated.
Almost in the centre, a Greek man in a fustanella is leaning against an ancient marble as a reference to the he a Greek is leaning against an ancient marble in an allusion to the heritage of classical Greece.
The officer in the blue uniform on the left is the Bavarian philhellene Karl Krazeisen, who is portrayed with respect and gratitude because, with his own drawings, he captured for posterity the figures of the 1821 freedom fighters as we know them today.
It is from these drawings that Vryzakis sourced the portraits of the fighters on the hill: Karaiskakis, Makrygiannis, Tzavelas, Notaras, the Scot named Gordon, Englishman Hastings and Karl von Heideck, looking towards the Acropolis through a telescope.
Heideck, who had first-hand experience of these events, painted the same subject, and Vryzakis quoted his painting much later, in 1855. The Greek flag sways on the top right.
The gold-red and brown colours characteristic of Vryzakis' work are also pre-eminent in this painting. The description blends tension and suspense with release provided by charming genre interludes.
Texts: Marina Lampraki-Plaka, Professor Emeritus of the History of Art, ex-Director, National Gallery - Alexandros Soutsos Museum, Athens & Dr. Maria Katsanaki, Art Historian, Curator of Modern Greek Painting, National Gallery - Alexandros Soutsos Museum
Project leader: Efi Agathonikou, Head of Collections Department, National Gallery - Alexandros Soutsos Museum, Athens
Images: Stavros Psiroukis & Thalia Kimpari, Photographic Studio, National Gallery - Alexandros Soutsos Museum, Athens
Digital curation: Dr. Alexandros Teneketzis, Art Historian & Marina Tomazani, Art Historian, Curator, National Gallery - Alexandros Soutsos Museum
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