Konstantinos Volanakis: The Greek Painter of Maritime History
Konstantinos Volanakis, a renowned Greek painter, depicted significant events in Greek maritime history through his artwork. This includes his painting of the burning of a Turkish frigate in Eressos in 1882, showcasing the strategic warfare tactics used by Greek revolutionary fighters to gain freedom from Turkish rulers. Despite facing challenges in his later years, Volanakis left a lasting impact on the art world with his maritime-focused paintings and teaching endeavors.
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GREECE 2021 200 AFTER INDEPENDENCE 9THPRIMARY SCHOOL OF DAFNI 6THGRADE ALEXANDRA ZISI
The Painter: Konstantinos Volanakis V olanakisw as born in the C retan city of H eraklionto parents from a sm all ham let near R ethym no. They later relocated for com m ercial reasons, and he com pleted his basic schooling in 1856 on Syros. 1st A fter that, he travelled to Trieste, w here he w orked as a bookkeeper for a fam ily of G reek m erchants w ho w ere connected to his fam ily through m arriage. H e drew illustrations of ships and harbors in his account books w hile he w as there. R ather of dism issing him , the fam ily recognized his creative ability and arranged for him to study under K arl von Pilotyat M unich's A cadem y of Fine A rts, w here he joined a group of G reek students that included N ikolaosG yzis, G eorgiosJakobides, N ikiphoros L ytras, and P olychronisL em besis. Since his tutors discouraged him from painting landscapes because they w ere "in decline," he focused on portraiture.
The Artists Work H e taught in the A thens School of Fine A rts from then until 1903, w here M ichalisOikonom ouw as one of his m ost fam ous students. In addition, he ran his ow n private school. Sophia L askaridouw as another of his students. H e received the Silver C ross of the Order of the R edeem er in 1889. H e did, how ever, becom e im poverished in his latter years as a result of his big fam ily and w aning interest in his art. To boost his earnings, he w orked w ith a group of fram ers w ho w ould create exquisite carved fram es first, then create paintings to fit them , reversing the traditional approach of painting first, then fram ing. V olanakis died of com plications from a large hernia on June 29, 1907, in Piraeus. B ecause his funeral happened on a crucial election day, only a few people show ed up. H is w orks are m ostly in private collections.
Konstantinos Volanakis painted the burning of the Turkish frigate in Eressos in 1882.
What the Painting Shows The B urning of a Turkish Frigate portrays a strategic w ar plan devised by G reek revolutionary fighters to strike their Turkish rulers, leading to G reece's freedom . M aritim e heroes such as C anaris, P apam anolis, and B arbatsisadopted the m ethod of tying a sm all boat filled w ith explosives (know n as a fire ship) to the side of a frigate. The destruction of the 'M ansourija' w as one of the m ost fam ous of such am bushes. On the evening of M ay 27, 1821, D im itrisP apam anolis, a thirty-three-year-old freedom w arrior, m aneuvered his tiny craft up to the frigate's port side and set it ablaze. The terrible fire engulfed the Turkish ship, killing 600 people.
