Maria Katsanaki, Glory by Nikolaos Gyzis, Benaki Museum Publications, Athens 2021, 66 pp. 38 color and b/w pictures. ISBN 978-960-476-287-3
The art historian Maria Katsanaki explores the context and process of the creation of Nikolaos Gyzis’ emblematic work, inspired by Dionysios Solomos’ epigram “The Destruction of Psarra”, which until recently belonged to Mr. Dimitris Gkertsos, and today, after his kind offer, belongs to the Presidency of the Republic.
The work’s creation is examined in relation to the historical developments in Greece and this period’s artistic trends in Europe. At the same time, the author reconstructs the steps of the work from the time of its creation, shortly before the end of the nineteenth century, until its acquisition by the ancestors of Dimitrios Gkertsos (1928).
The author’s text is accompanied by an “Address” from the President of the Hellenic Republic Katerina Sakellaropoulou, a “Foreword” by George Manginis, Academic Director of the Benaki Museum and a “Note” by Dimitris Gkertsos.
