What I can see

This marble bust is of François-Auguste-René, vicomte de Chateaubriand (1768-1848), who is rendered in time- period clothing. “Satovriandos” is the Greekized version of his name. He was a French politician, writer, great philhellene and founder of French Romanticism. He was, in fact, a source of inspiration for Victor Hugo and Lord Byron. The bust is placed on a marble pedestal and a marble base, which bears the inscription “Hellas, that name which one cannot pronounce without respect and emotion.”

What I can't see

It was designed by Fokion Rok and the original plan was to be placed on the Sacred Way, near Daphni area, from where Chateaubriand saw the Acropolis for the first time. With the Second World War, this plan was forgotten and the bust was found by chance in the warehouses of the Municipality of Athens, almost 30 years later. The equestrian statue of Constantine Paleologos had been decided to be placed here, but was finally placed in Phalero.

Info

• Address: V. Konstantinou & Naiadon St.

Bibliography