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Exhibition 'History has a Face' at the Embassy of Greece in London
London, October 2021
London, October 2021
The Embassy of Greece in London is hosting 15 drawings from among the 320 unique portraits made by Benjamin Mary (1792-1846), diplomatic representative of Belgium to Greece.
The drawings (courtesy of the Sylvia Ioannou Foundation) were sketched from life, mostly in Athens, between 1839 and 1844.
They are published for the first time in Η Ιστορία έχει πρόσωπο – Μορφές του 1821 στην Ελλάδα του Όθωνα από τον βέλγο διπλωμάτη Benjamin Mary (Αθήνα, 2020), acquainting us with known and unknown personalities of the Greek Revolution and of Greece under King Otto through the sensitive, penetrating gaze of a European artist.
Fighters, politicians, clergymen, intellectuals, philhellenes and ordinary people posed patiently for Benjamin Mary, who succeeded in capturing their demeanour at an unparalleled moment in history.
The opening of the exhibition, which took place on 26 October 2021 at the Embassy of Greece in London, included speeches addressed by Gonda Van Steen, Koraes Chair of Modern Greek and Byzantine History, Jennifer Wallace, academic, author and member of the London Hellenic Prize, and Alasdair Grant of the University of Edinburgh. A welcome address was given by Iphigenia Vogiatzi, curator of the permanent exhibitions of the National Historical Museum. Watch the event here.
