Spyridon Prosalentis

Portrait of Themistoklis Trikoupis (1807-1890), a hero of the Greek Revolution.

Portrait of Kalidona Trikoupis, Themistoklis' wife.

Spyridon Prosalentis (Greek: Σπυρίδων Προσαλέντης; Corfu, 1830 – Athens, 1895) was a Greek portrait painter of the Heptanese School. His first name is sometimes seen as Spiros.

Biography

He was born in Corfu in 1807 and he was son of the famous painter and sculptor Pavlos Prosalentis. He took his first lessons in art by his father and later he finished his education at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Venezia. He remained in Italy until 1865 and, when he returned, received an appointment as Professor of painting at the Athens School of Fine Arts. For unknown reasons, he resigned from that position the following year and went back to Venice.

During 1870, he won a major award at the "Exhibition of Fine Arts" in Parma, and was invited to return to Greece by King George I. He settled in Athens and immediately began to create murals in the chapel of the Old Royal Palace. In 1876, a second chair of painting was established at the School of Fine Arts and he received another appointment as Professor, this time remaining in that position until his death.

Upon commission from the Royal Family of Greece, he completed several series of portraits of notable personalities from the Greek Revolution, the University of Athens, and the War and Navy Departments. He also painted some domestic genre scenes, but those are much less familiar.

His sons, Pavlos and Aimilios, and his daughter Eleni also became well-known painters.

External links

Media related to Spyridon Prosalentis at Wikimedia Commons