On the anniversary of the birth and death of Constantine Cavafy, the Onassis Foundation installed a sculpture of the famous Alexandrian poet in Athens.
By placing the poet on Dionysiou Areopagitou, one of the city’s most iconic streets, the public is invited to “converse” with him for a moment, while gazing out at the vibrant urban fabric of Athens.
“I love Athens so much,” Cavafy wrote in 1903. It was a city that always fascinated him; a place where he sought recognition, where he tested his writing, and where he yearned to be heard.
Integrating poetry into our daily journeys
Antonis S. Papadimitriou, President of the Onassis Foundation, stated:
“[The statue] serves as a reminder of the culture of everyday life, integrating poetry into our daily journeys.”
Lina Mendoni, Minister of Culture, noted:
“Dionysiou Areopagitou is perhaps the most cosmopolitan street in Athens, making it the ideal location for this sculpture of Constantine Cavafy. It is a place where classical Athens and Rome symbolically meet, and where people from all over the world pass by every day.
“Praxiteles Tzanoulinos has captured the poet’s form with exceptional sensitivity. What I find particularly significant is that Cavafy is not presented as a conventional bust or a distant statue, but as a man sitting on a bench, inviting everyone to sit beside him, to read, to think, and to converse.”
The Cavafy sculpture
Praxiteles Tzanoulinos’s life-size bronze sculpture is treated with a highly durable patina suitable for outdoor placement, specifically designed to invite visitors to sit alongside the poet.
The depiction of Cavafy draws inspiration from a photograph held in the Cavafy Archive, showing him seated on a chaise longue in his apartment at 10 Lepsius Street in Alexandria.
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