Special Information for the Artist
Athanasios Iatridis comes from Karpenisi. He had a prolific activity in both years of the revolution of '21 and after the liberation, but he left the artistic tradition. He left his hometown a few years before the Revolution and settled in Vienna where he studied painting.
In 1827 he continued his studies in Paris where he was also taught lithography. In 1828 he went to Aegina and in 1833 he was appointed superintendent (assistant archaeological inspector) of the Archaeological Museum of Aegina (it was the first archaeological museum in the country). In 1833 he was appointed professor of drawing at the Orphanage of Aegina, but a year later moved to Athens, where he worked with the local Archaeological Service. From 1834 to 1844 he worked as a designer of state archaeological department, where he made copies of antiquities, and was in charge of the excavations. In 1839 he made excavations at Chaeronea and organized the first museum of Thebes. In the "Archaeological Journal", released by the Ministry of Education in 1837, many published drawings of Iatridis. In 1844 he went to Arachova, where he lived until his death in 1866. His surviving works are mainly portraits.
The artist presents a remarkable expression in his works and a remarkable observation. While accepting the Western influence, the Greek tradition is for this seminal power. Important are the 9 lithographs with national issues, from the fall of Constantinople to the days of Ali Pasa's and the death of Karaiskakis.
