Page 385 - Beholding Liberty!

of earlier iconographic prototypes, such
as the engraved portraits of Karl Krazeisen. We do not know the artist who undertook their drawings or/and their execution in fresco. Without being able to exclude their creation by the group of Bavarian artists who painted the Frieze of the Revolution
– although there are no drawings of Schwanthaler, nor other evidence, on the painted medals, – they can probably
be attributed to Greek painters, the Margaritis brothers, Philippos (1810-1892) and Georgios (1814-1885), who had studied in Rome and Paris, respectively.
The two of them had undertaken in the same period large painted compositions inspired by the Struggle for Independence, along the lines of its formal visual narrative.
On the Medals of the Heroes there are portrayed 14 pioneers of the Greek Revolution, with active participation in its military operations. Among them lies the forerunner of the Struggle, Rigas Feraios, who is honourably included, in recognition of his early, radical work and
his sacrifice.
The depicted heroes are Greeks,
while the exception of the great Philhellene protagonist of the Struggle in the sea
Frank Abney Hastings. Aligned from
the north to the west side – by analogy to the Frieze of the Revolution – three medals
are placed on each of the narrow sides (north and south) and four on each of
the long ones (east and west).
On the whole, the mural ornamentation
in the Hall of the Trophies and
the Adjutants is the first monumental
visual recording of the Greek Revolution,
as a state commission.
With the events still relatively fresh in
the memory of the people and with several of the depicted still living at the time
of the painting, the murals that decorated the (then) royal palace stand essentially
as institutional monumentalization
and early perception of the Struggle and its heroes, with the choices of themes
and personalities hiding, to a great
extent, ideological intentions.
The Medals of the Heroes
Η ΑΦΥΠΝΙΣΗ ΤΟΥ ΕΛΛΗΝΙΣΜΟΥ Από την αρχαιολατρία στον Φιλελληνισμό 385