In April 1869, the Senate of the University of Athens commissioned the work to the Peloponnesian sculptor Ioannis Kossos, one of the greatest artists of his time, a student of the German classicist sculptor Christian Siegel. Rigas Feraios, or rather Velestinlis, born in 1757 in Velestino, Magnesia, was a poet and writer, as well as a key representative of the radical Modern Greek Enlightenment and a precursor of the Greek War of Independence. In his attempt to revolt all peoples under Ottoman political rule, he was arrested on December 19th, 1797 by the Austrians and was strangled in prison on June 12th, 1798, after being surrendered to the Ottomans. The martyred hero stands imposingly, with broken chains at his feet, his right arm outstretched and his eyes fixed on the sky. His statue is the first placed in Athens following the city’s proclamation as the capital of the country.
Main Bibliography
- Bury John – Meiggs Russell, A History of Greece. To the Death of Alexander the Great, Translated by Rouli Tataki, K. N. Petropoulos, Anna Papadimitriou - Grammenou, Konstantinos Buraselis, Angelos Matthaiou, Athens 2011.
- Αλεξάνδρου, μτφρ. Ρούλη Τατάκη, Κ. Ν. Πετρόπουλος, Άννα Παπαδημητρίου Γραμμένου,
- Κωνσταντίνος Μπουραζέλης, Άγγελος Ματθαίου, Αθήνα 2011.
- Lefèvre François, Histoire Du Monde Grec Antique, Translated by Anastasia Kefala, Mina Kardamitsa, Athens 2016.
- Καρδαμίτσα, Αθήνα 2016.
- Antonopoulou Zeta, Τα Γλυπτά της Αθήνας: Υπαίθρια Γλυπτική 1834-2004, Athens 2003.
- Karaiskou Vicky, Νεοελληνική Γλυπτική: Ματιές και αναγνώσεις, Athens 2011.
- Pavlopoulos Dimitris, Ζητήματα Νεοελληνικής Γλυπτικής, Athens 1998.
- Γλυπτά, Αθήνα 2020.
- Pavlopoulos Dimitris, Από τον Ιερό Λόχο στον Κωνσταντίνο ΙΒ’: Νεότερα Αθηναϊκά Γλυπτά, Athens 2020.
Main Webliography
http://www.athenssculptures.com
https://explore.cure-project.gr
https://www.thisiscrete.gr/gr/historical-monuments
https://www.wikipedia.org
Informations
Additional
Creator: Ioannis Kossos (1822-1875)
Material: Marble
Date: 1871
Location: Courtyard of the University of Athens
Type: Statue
Subject: Greek War of Independence
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