Page 442 - Beholding Liberty!
P. 442
442 BEHOLDING LIBERTY!
EPILOGUE 1
Richard Bankes Harraden (1778-1862)
View of Athens from the hill of the Muses, 1828
oil on canvas, 75 x 127 cm
signed and dated: R:B: Harraden Pinx 1828 Cambridge (back side) inscribed: Athens from the Museum Hill (caption, back side) Hellenic Parliament Art Collection, inv. n. 330
BRITISH PAINTER Richard Bankes Harraden specialised in drawing and watercolour painting; he also pursued an interest in printmaking. He worked mainly on landscape paintings and city views. He depicted several views of the city of Athens from the Hill of the Muses and the Philopappos Monu- ment, facing the Acropolis. That vantage point afforded him panoramic views of the city and its major monuments, with the Acropolis in the centre, set within the luminous Attic landscape. The human
figures in the foreground, not only provide an indica- tion of scale (staffages), but also add popular folk- lore elements by their colourful dress – a perennial favourite of Orientalism.
Although produced in 1828 – that is, before Athens became independent and was proclaimed the cap- ital of Greece in 1834 [cat. no II.6.9], –Harraden’s painting conveys a festive atmosphere, with inhabi- tants dancing against a backdrop of the monuments of a city iconic of the endurance of Hellenism.
