Plenty of Nothing

John Argyropoulos

John Argyropoulos was one of the Byzantine scholars who brought Greek philosophy to Italy in the 15th century. Here he is an illustration tipped into a copy of Aristotle's Organon, MS Barocci 87 in the Bodleian Library. Source.

Greek Man in a Cloak, ca. 500 BC

At the Rhode Island School of Design Museum. Source.

The Philopassos Monument, 1794

The monument to Gaius Julius Antiochus Epiphanes Philopappos, prince of Commagene, occupies the peak of Mousaion Hill overlooking Athens. Pausanius mentions the tomb in his guide. Some of its stone was removed to build the minaret on the Acropolis in Ottoman days. Source.

The Palace of St Michael and St George

The Palace of St Michael and St George, Corfu, c. 1830, by Joseph Schranz. From 1815 to 1864 some of the Greek islands formed a British protectorate grandly named the United States of the Ionian Islands, for whose government this palace was completed in 1824. Today it houses the Corfu Museum of Asian Art. Source. Also.

Acropolis Palace

Following the creation of the Kingdom of Greece in 1832, Prussian architect Karl Friedrich Schinkel drew up plans for a royal palace on the Acropolis. It was never built, but he is the man behind the Altes Museum in Berlin, where the Germans show off their Greek antiquities. Source.

Temple of Olympian Zeus, 1833

A view of Athens painted by Johann Michael Wittmer in 1833. In the middle distance are the remains of the Temple of Olympian Zeus, with a stylite's cell, later removed, still perched on top. The middle one of those three pillars later blew down in a storm. Source.

Bitten by a Macaque

King Alexander of Greece died on this date in 1920 after having been bitten by a macaque. Source.

Acropolis, 1865

Daguerreotype by Philippos Margaritis of the Acropolis in 1865, showing the medieval Frankish tower. Source.

Parthenon, 1869

Study of the Parthenon, 1869, by Sanford Robinson Gifford. Source.

Praying Hands, Athens

Source.