Pavlos Prosalentis (Greek: Παύλος Προσαλέντης; 28 January 1784 in

Corfu Corfu ( , ) or Kerkyra (, ) is a Greece, Greek island in the Ionian Sea, of the Ionian Islands; including its Greek islands, small satellite islands, it forms the margin of Greece's northwestern frontier. The island is part of the Corfu (regio ...

– 1 February 1837 in Corfu) was the first professional sculptor in modern Greece.Ionian Sculpture
@ the

National Gallery of Athens The National Gallery (, ''Ethniki Pinakothiki'') is an art museum located on Vasilissis Sofias avenue in the Pangrati district, Athens, Greece. It is devoted to Greek and European art from the 14th century to the 20th century. The newly renov ...

. He is often referred to as "The Elder" to distinguish him from his grandson, also named Pavlos Prosalentis (1857-1894), who was a painter.

Biography

He was descended from a noble Byzantine family, who fled to areas under the control of the

Venetian Republic The Republic of Venice, officially the Most Serene Republic of Venice and traditionally known as La Serenissima, was a sovereign state and Maritime republics, maritime republic with its capital in Venice. Founded, according to tradition, in 697 ...

after the

Fall of Constantinople The Fall of Constantinople, also known as the Conquest of Constantinople, was the capture of Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire by the Ottoman Empire. The city was captured on 29 May 1453 as part of the culmination of a 55-da ...

. His first teacher was an Italian sculptor and woodcarver who was living on Corfu. In 1805, he went to Rome where he enrolled at the

Accademia di San Luca The Accademia di San Luca () is an Italian academy of artists in Rome. The establishment of the Accademia de i Pittori e Scultori di Roma was approved by papal brief in 1577, and in 1593 Federico Zuccari became its first ''principe'' or director; ...

and studied with

Antonio Canova Antonio Canova (; 1 November 1757 – 13 October 1822) was an Italians, Italian Neoclassical sculpture, Neoclassical sculptor, famous for his marble sculptures. Often regarded as the greatest of the Neoclassical artists,. his sculpture was ins ...

.Brief biography
@ the National Gallery of Athens. After returning to Corfu, he participated in creating an "Academy of Sciences", sponsored by the French government. In 1811, he opened a private art school; the first such modern school to be established in Greece. When Corfu became a protectorate of the British Empire in 1815, Lord High Commissioner Thomas Maitland transformed the school into the "Public Academy of Fine Arts". By 1819, it had eighty students. The following year, Prosalentis was awarded the

Order of St Michael and St George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince of Wales (the future King George IV), while he was acting as prince regent for his father, King George III ...

. The painter

Dionysios Vegias Dionysios Vegias (, 1810–84) was a Greek painter of the later Heptanese School of painting. Life Dionysios Vegias was born in 1810 in Cephalonia. He was a pupil of the sculptor Pavlos Prosalentis (1784–1837), then received a scholarship ...

was one of his pupils. In 1824, when Lord Guilford created the Ionian Academy, Prosalentis was one of the first to be offered a teaching position there. He accepted, but declined to take a salary, suggesting that the money be spent on making copies of the

Elgin Marbles The Elgin Marbles ( ) are a collection of Ancient Greek sculptures from the Parthenon and other structures from the Acropolis of Athens, removed from Ottoman Greece in the early 19th century and shipped to Britain by agents of Thomas Bruce, 7 ...

and other works that had been removed from the

Parthenon The Parthenon (; ; ) is a former Ancient Greek temple, temple on the Acropolis of Athens, Athenian Acropolis, Greece, that was dedicated to the Greek gods, goddess Athena. Its decorative sculptures are considered some of the high points of c ...

, and using them for educational or restorative work. He eventually received numerous free copies, creating scholarships from the money saved. Although not a wealthy man, he often gave private lessons for only the cost of materials and transportation. Eventually,

casting Casting is a manufacturing process in which a liquid material is usually poured into a mold, which contains a hollow cavity of the desired shape, and then allowed to solidify. The solidified part is also known as a casting, which is ejected or ...

and other foundry work damaged his health and he died in 1837, at the age of fifty-three. In addition to his own sculpting, he also made sketches for works by other sculptors and pedestal panels for several monuments and busts. He also did some painting, mostly of a religious nature. Many of his works have been lost or destroyed. In addition to his namesake, Pavlos (mentioned above), his son Spyridon, grandson , and granddaughters, and were also artists.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Prosalentis, Pavlos 1784 births 1837 deaths Artists from Corfu Order of St Michael and St George 19th-century male artists 19th-century Greek sculptors Republic of Venice sculptors United States of the Ionian Islands people

Biography

References

Further reading

External links