The National Glyptotheque (Part I)

The National Glyptotheque is housed in the twin buildings of the former Royal Stables at the Army Park in Goudi, Athens. Moreover, it covers an outdoor area of 6.500㎡, which hosts a sculpture park, where large-scale works are on display. It was inaugurated in 2004, with a retrospective exhibition of Henry Moore and monumental wood sculptures by Christos Kapralos. In 2006, the Modern Greek Sculpture Permanent Display was inaugurated, providing, for the first time, a complete overview of the sculpture collection in a dedicated space. Also for the first time, a comprehensive catalogue was published, available in English (Cover photo: General view of the National Glyptotheque).

Six iconic sculptures by major international artists are on display at the exhibition entrance: Magritte Rene (1898 – 1967), The Healer (Le Therapeute), 1967, Bronze, 145 x 128 x 90 cm, donated by Alexandros Iolas (right), Unknown, Island Fanlights, Marble (left)

The exhibition consists of eleven sections, which trace Modern Greek sculpture from its earliest beginnings to the present day.

Folk sculpture

After Christianity spread, ancient Greek sculpture declined, becoming mainly decorative. In post-Byzantine times, it survived as folk art through wood, metal, and stone carving. By the early 19^th century, sculpture revived on the Ionian Islands and across Greece, where anonymous craftsmen created remarkable works on fountains, houses, churches, and tombs, blending Western, Eastern, and traditional elements. In the Cyclades—especially on Tinos island, known for its marble-working tradition—stone carving thrived. (Source: National Glyptotheque)

Unknown, Island Fanlight, Marble, 52 x 73,5 cm. The fanlights are a separate category of lintels all their own, widespread throughout Tinos island. In the shape of a perforated relief arch, they were placed over the doors or the windows and served a multiple function: structural, because they cover the relieving triangle over the lintel, practical, because they allowed light to reach the inside, aesthetic, because they were decorated with various depictions and magical because the decorative representations frequently had the aforementioned attribute of protecting the house from, or driving away, evil spirits.

Lytras Chatziantonis (c. 1800 – 2nd half 19th century), Windmill, 1837, Marble, 49 x 62 cm. An eponymous example of folk sculpture made by the marble sculptor Chatziantonis Lytras, father of the painter Nikephoros Lytras, just before the appearance of official sculpture in the newly liberated Greek state. It bears the marks of the characteristic perception of the folk artisan: decorative schematization, a flat rendering without any perspective and a lack of proportions.

Ionian Island Sculpture and Neoclassical Sculpture

The reappearance of sculpture as an autonomous art and its liberation from its secondary, decorative role was realized at the beginning of the 19^th century in the Ionian Islands through the work of the Corfiot sculptor Pavlos Prossalentis the Elder. Prossalentis was the first academic modern Greek sculptor and in 1813 he founded the first Art School in Greece, on the island of Corfu, since the rest of Greece was still under the Turkish yoke.

After Athens became the capital of Greece in 1834, many skilled Tinian craftsmen arrived to help decorate the city’s new buildings. The need for organized art education led to the founding of the School of Arts in 1837, where sculpture began being taught in 1847 under German sculptor Christian Siegel. He introduced neoclassicism, inspired by ancient Greek and Roman art. Early students, including Ioannis Kossos, Lazaros and Georgios Fytalis, and Leonidas Drossis, who made the sculptural decoration for the Athens Academy, became leading neoclassical sculptors. Their works—statues of heroes, public figures, and funerary monuments—reflected both classical ideals and the emerging identity of the modern Greek state. (Source: National Glyptotheque)

General view of the Neoclassical Sculpture Section at the National Glyptotheque

Prossalentis Pavlos the Elder (1784 – 1837), Plato, 1815, Marble, 46 x 34 x 24 cm; it is the first dated work in modern Greece (left), Fytalis Georgios (1830 – 1880), Shepherd with Baby Goat, 1856, Marble, 110 x 48 x 42 cm (right)

Drossis Leonidas (1834 – 1882), Penelope, 1873, Marble, 143 x 75 x 133 cm (left), Vroutos Georgios (1843 – 1909), The Spirit of Copernicus, 1877, Marble, 188 x 77 x 67 cm (right)

Yannoulis Chalepas (1851-1938) stands as a unique figure in modern Greek sculpture, his career marked by both brilliance and tragedy. A gifted artist, he studied at the Athens School of Arts and the Munich Academy, where he excelled before financial hardship forced his return to Athens in 1876. Despite early success, mental illness struck in 1878, ending his first creative period, which had drawn heavily on ancient Greek themes. After years in the Corfu Asylum (1888–1902) and the destruction of his later works by himself and his mother, Chalepas resumed sculpting only after her death in 1916. His mature style abandoned academic precision for a freer, instinctive approach that emphasized essential form over detail. His later works—robust, introspective, and symbolically charged—reflect a deeply personal dialogue with antiquity and his own inner struggles.

Chalepas Yannoulis (1851 – 1938), Sleeping Female Figure (Plaster cast from the tomb of Sofia Afentaki in the First Cemetery of Athens), 1878, Plaster, 77 x 178 x 76 cm (upper), Medea III, 1933, Plaster, 72 x 43 x 24 cm (lower left), The Secret, before 1927, Painted plaster, 48 x 30 x 20 cm (lower right)

General view of the 20^th century Sculpture Section at the National Glyptotheque

From Neoclassicism to Realism and to 20^th century

Neoclassicism dominated Greek sculpture through the 19^th century and into the early 20^th, but studies in Europe exposed Greek sculptors to new artistic trends. This led to more realistic themes inspired by everyday life, often created to decorate gardens and entertain the public. Dimitrios Filippotis pioneered such works in 1869 with The Harvester, depicting children in daily activities. Georgios Vroutos and Georgios Bonanos also embraced realism while preserving neoclassical traits—idealized forms and smooth surfaces. In contrast, traditional subjects like busts soon adopted a more naturalistic style, portraying real individuals rather than idealized, imaginary figures. (Source: National Glyptotheque)

Filippotis Dimitrios (1834 – 1919), Boy with Piggy-Bank, (1888), Marble, 136 x 47 x 40 cm (right), Irene Abanopoulou, 1879, Marble, 68 x 48 x 29 cm (left)

Bonanos Georgios (1863 – 1940), Nana, 1896 – 1897, Marble, 165 x 91 x 132 cm (left), Vroutos Georgios (1843 – 1909), The Boy with the Crab, 1891, Marble, 125 x 50 x 50 cm (right)

The turn to Paris

Although 19^th-century Greek sculpture was dominated by neoclassicism, a shift toward renewal began around 1870, blending classical tradition with emerging realistic trends. Artists gradually turned to Paris, as seen with Lazaros Sochos, who studied there – he was the first Greek sculptor who preferred to do his post-graduate studies in the French capital in 1885 – and created the equestrian statue of Theodoros Kolokotronis, in front of the Old Parliament House in Athens, now housing the National Historical Museum. At the same time, Auguste Rodin’s influence transformed European sculpture and inspired many Greeks. His expressive modeling, use of allegory, and focus on the fragmentary figure appealed to sculptors trained in the neoclassical style. Thomas Thomopoulos, although having studied in Munich, was to be characterized as “the introducer of the Rodin School into Greece”, while Kostas Dimitriadis fully developed it, establishing modern Greek sculpture’s new direction. (Source: National Glyptotheque)