Page 444 - Beholding Liberty!

EPILOGUE 3
Charalambos Papadopoulos
Greek present to his Majesty the King of Bavaria Ludwig I
Nafplio 1833
Library of the Hellenic Parliament
THE POEMS OF – otherwise unknown – Haralambos Papadopoulos celebrate events of the Greek Revolution as a “gift in return”, accord- ing to the title of the book, for Ludwig’s Greek poems [cat. no Epilogue 2]. In what was certainly a calculated move at the time of Otto’s arrival
in Greece [see cat. no II.6.7] to become the first king of Greece, the book is dedicated to the Prince of Bavaria in a poem. Its publication, therefore, served a political purpose; characteristically, one of the poems is titled “Greece and Bavaria Are United”.
EPILOGUE 4
Konrad Lange (1809-1856)
Medallion of Paleon Patron Germanos, 1836
444 BEHOLDING LIBERTY!
reverse: The declaration of the Revolution at Kalavryta on the 25th March 1821 obverse: Portrait of Paleon Patron Germanos
bifacial bronze medallion, diameter 4.4 cm
signed: Κ. ΛΑΓΓΕ (front side)
inscribed: ΓΕΡΜΑΝΟΣ ΑΡΧΙΕΠΙΣΚΟΠΟΣ ΠΑΤΡΩΝ (front side) ΘΕΟΣ ΤΟΥ – ΠΑΤΡΟΣ ΜΟΥ – ΚΑΙ ΥΨΩΣΩ ΑΥΤΟΝ • ΚΑΛΑΒΡΥΤΑ 25 ΜΑΡΤ / 1821 (backj side)
Hellenic Parliament Art Collection, inv. n. 880
ONE OF THE SERIES OF 12 BRONZE MEDALS with elaborate figures and events of the Greek War of Independence published by Kon- rad Lange in 1836. A Bavarian engraver, Lange came to Greece during Otto’s reign, in 1834, and worked at the Athens Mint until 1840.
On the verso, the proclamation of the Revolution on March 25, 1821, holiday of the Annunciation of the Virgin, by Germanos, Metropolitan of Patras, at the monastery of Agia Lavra, near Kalavryta, in northern Peloponnese. In the centre, the bish- op raises the flag with the cross, flanked by two fighters taking the oath, with right hands raised.
The diagonal composition captures the dramatic intensity of the moment. The inscription around the perimeter ‘ΘΕΟΣ ΤΟΥ – ΠΑΤΡΟΣ ΜΟΥ – ΚΑΙ ΥΨΩΣΩ ΑΥΤΟΝ’ (He is my God, and I will praise him, my father’s God, and I will exalt him) comes from the Exodus (15:2).
On the recto, Germanos of Patras is shown in pro- file to the left, in fine relief.
The image of the raising of the flag by Germanos at Kalavryta on March 25, 1821, dating from 1836 – that is, before the date became a national holiday (1838) – serves to confirm the relevant tradition.