Pericles

What I can see

The 2.5m tall full-body marble sculpture depicts Pericles standing next to a small stele, wearing a helmet (as in the ancient bust of the 2nd century BC) and holding a papyrus. It lies on a marble base and the base lies on a marble pedestal. On the base’s façade PERICLES is inscribed and on the side facades, the name of the sculptor and the name of the mayor, when the sculpture was transported to this place.

What I can't see

The work of the German sculptor Heinrich Schrerrer Faltermeier had caused a lot of negative comments and the artistic and intellectual world of the time had set up a committee to question its artistic value. Knowing this, the then mayor carried out the unveiling hastily and unexpectedly at the Athens Municipal Cultural Centre, where its original location was. The “German Pericles”, as it was called, was not only questioned for its artistic excellence, but also for the fact that it was designed by a German, at a time when the wounds of the Second World War were still open. A copy of the sculpture is in the sculpture gallery in Munich. The name Pericles derives from peri+ kleos, i.e. surrounded by glory. He was a leading Athenian general, orator and politician of the 5th century BC. During his days, Athens experienced its greatest prosperity, also known as the “Golden Age”. After the victory of Greeks over the Persians, he consolidated Athenian hegemony, made Athens a naval superpower, built the Acropolis’ classical monuments and was a prominent exponent of the values of democracy, mainly through the Funeral Oration that he probably delivered in honour of the first dead of the Peloponnesian War and we can read in the work of Thucydides to this day. He died during the first years of the Peloponnesian War, as Athens was struck by a deadly plague.

Info

• Address: Athinas St.

Bibliography