Funerary stele with a bust and a symbolic statue of a seated woman. Sculptor: Ioannis Vitsaris (1844-1892)
The funerary monument of the national benefactor Pavlos Pavlopoulos is of classicist style. Made of marble in the late 19th century, it combines realistic elements and symbolic references of his life, work and death. A 3.10 m. high column (stele) rises on a massive pedestal in the middle of the monument. At the top it bears the bust of the deceased, depicted as a bearded man in formal attire. In front of the column there is a seated a full-length female figure. Inspired from antiquity and clothed in a rich folded tunic, with her left hand points to the bust and in the right holds a scale that symbolizes Justice (a reference to the professional status of the deceased). The column is also decorated with a palm relief and a laurel wreath relief. It bears the signature of the sculptor: Ι.ΒΙΤΣΑΡΗΣ / ΕΠΟΙEI (made by I. Vitsaris).
Pavlos Pavlopoulos was born in Pyrgos of the Peloponnese in 1812 or in 1818. He studied law in Vienna. He became jurist and also a Supreme Court Judge. He died in Athens on November 2, 1887. Pavlopoulos benefited wealthy hospitals, almshouses and other institutions of the newly established Greek State after the War of Independence. He bequeathed a large part of his property to the University of Athens, which, in honor and gratitude, erected his burial monument.
City of Athens, Department of Cultural Heritage, 2022
@ text: Katerina Tsatoucha. Georgia Antonopoulou
@ photos: Victoria Kaisari