The Monument to Philopappos, Athens

Giovanni Battista Lusieri (circa 1755 - 1821)

Scottish National Gallery

circa 1805-1807

The artist's only known oil painting, and one of only a handful of works to have survived from his residence of twenty years in Athens. The work has a close connection to Scotland through the long-term patronage of Thomas Bruce, 7th Earl of Elgin (of Elgin Marbles fame). Lusieri worked as the Earl's resident artist and agent, in which capacity he was closely involved in the removal and transport of the Parthenon marbles and other antiquities. This arresting, hyper-realist image shows the funerary monument raised in ad 114-16 to Gaius Julius Antiochos Epiphanes Philopappos in Athens. The monument, survives today in much the same state as Lusieri recorded it. This work was acquired with assistance from the Wolfson Foundation.

• Medium: oil on canvas
• Dimensions: 82.5 x 62.2cm
• Art Fund Grant: £100000 ( Total: £300,000)
• ArtFunded in: 2007
• Vendor: James Mackinnon

Provenance

Private collection, London; Christie's, 2001; James Mackinnon.

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