Busts of YMCA Park

What I can see

The YMCA Park has three busts which are one meter high and are placed on marble bases. The first one is that of Ion Dragoumis, a work by Michalis Tombros, who rendered Dragoumis in detail and technically well. Ηis body position is not totally straight, there are many details, a classicist mood, purity and simplified volumes. It is one of the sculptor’s most mature classicist works. The second marble bust is of Lambros Koromilas, a work by Nikos Perantinos. The style is neoclassical; the figure is idealized with ancient Greek stylistic references and a slight tilt of the head in an attempt to convey the vision of Koromilas. The bronze bust of Manolis Andronikos, a work by Efthymios Kalevras, is an expressive, realistic sculpture of folkloric style and highlights the insightful spirit of the Greek archaeologist.

What I can't see

Ion Dragoumis was a diplomat, writer, pro-royalist and anti-Venizelian politician. He exerted a great ideological influence in Greece at the beginning of the 20th century, organized the Greek communities of the Ottoman Empire in the region of Macedonia and recommended the prevalence of the vernacular Greek language over its archaic version. Lambros Koromilas (1854-1923) was a diplomat and consul of Thessaloniki, who very effectively organized the Macedonian Struggle against the Ottoman Empire and turned the consulate into the struggle’s headquarters. Manolis Andronikos (1919-1992), was a leading archaeologist with a huge scientific work, the crowning glory of which was the discovery of the royal tombs of Aegae in Vergina, which included priceless archaeological treasures and among them was the golden urn of Philip II, father of Alexander the Great.

Bibliography