Kanaris at Chios ( it, Kanaris a Scio), also known as The Kanaris brothers (''I fratelli Kanaris'') or The sailors of the English Garden (''I marinai del Giardino Inglese''), is a marble sculpture completed by

Benedetto Civiletti Benedetto Civiletti (1 October 1845 – 22 September 1899) was an Italian sculptor, active mainly in his native Sicily. He is known for his Romantic-style public sculptures on allegorical, genre, or historical themes. Biography Benedetto was bor ...

Palermo Palermo ( , ; scn, Palermu , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan ...

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

in 1878. It represents Konstantinos Kanaris (in front) and Andreas Pipinos at

Chios Chios (; el, Χίος, Chíos , traditionally known as Scio in English) is the fifth largest Greek island, situated in the northern Aegean Sea. The island is separated from Turkey by the Chios Strait. Chios is notable for its exports of mastic ...

, as they were sailing on board a fireboat towards the Ottoman flagship of admiral

Nasuhzade Ali Pasha Nasuhzade Ali Pasha ( Turkish: ''Nasuhzade Ali Paşa''), commonly known as Kara Ali Pasha ( el, Καρά Αλή Πασάς), was an Ottoman admiral during the early stages of the Greek War of Independence. In 1821, as second-in-command of the ...

. This event, known as the

burning of the Ottoman flagship off Chios The burning of the Ottoman flagship off Chios took place on the night of 18 June 1822. The event, occurring during the Greek War of Independence, was a reprisal for the Chios massacre which occurred two months earlier. Two thousand Ottoman sailor ...

took place on the night of 18 June 1822 during the

Greek War of Independence The Greek War of Independence, also known as the Greek Revolution or the Greek Revolution of 1821, was a successful war of independence by Greek revolutionaries against the Ottoman Empire between 1821 and 1829. The Greeks were later assisted by ...

, and was a reprisal for the

Chios massacre The Chios massacre (in el, Η σφαγή της Χίου, ) was a catastrophe that resulted to the death, enslavement, and refuging of about four-fifths of the total population of Greeks on the island of Chios by Ottoman troops, during the G ...

which occurred two months earlier. Two thousand Ottoman sailors were killed, including Nasuhzade Ali Pasha himself.

History and description

The Greek War of Independence stirred

Romantic Romantic may refer to: Genres and eras * The Romantic era, an artistic, literary, musical and intellectual movement of the 18th and 19th centuries ** Romantic music, of that era ** Romantic poetry, of that era ** Romanticism in science, of that e ...

artists in Post-Napoleonic Europe, including

Eugène Delacroix Ferdinand Victor Eugène Delacroix ( , ; 26 April 1798 – 13 August 1863) was a French Romantic artist regarded from the outset of his career as the leader of the French Romantic school.Noon, Patrick, et al., ''Crossing the Channel: Britis ...

in his painting ''

The Massacre at Chios ''The Massacre at Chios'' (french: Scène des massacres de Scio) is the second major oil painting by the French artist Eugène Delacroix. The work is more than four meters tall, and shows some of the horror of the wartime destruction visited on ...

'' (1824), musician

Gioachino Rossini Gioachino Antonio Rossini (29 February 1792 – 13 November 1868) was an Italian composer who gained fame for his 39 operas, although he also wrote many songs, some chamber music and piano pieces, and some sacred music. He set new standards f ...

in his opera '' Le siège de Corinthe'' (1826) and many writers, such as

Victor Hugo Victor-Marie Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romantic writer and politician. During a literary career that spanned more than sixty years, he wrote in a variety of genres and forms. He is considered to be one of the great ...

Percy Bysshe Shelley Percy Bysshe Shelley ( ; 4 August 17928 July 1822) was one of the major English Romantic poets. A radical in his poetry as well as in his political and social views, Shelley did not achieve fame during his lifetime, but recognition of his achie ...

and

Lord Byron George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824), known simply as Lord Byron, was an English romantic poet and Peerage of the United Kingdom, peer. He was one of the leading figures of the Romantic movement, and h ...

(who died in Greece during the war). Civiletti was apparently inspired by the recently published ''Scene Elleniche antica e nuova Grecia'', written by Angelo Brofferio, which included a description of the

. For Civiletti, the topic may have resonated with the nationalistic fervor in Italy after its unification; in retrospect however, the individualistic firebrands could also be viewed as anarchist patriots. The work was first made in a stucco and exhibited in

in 1875, where it was purchased by Prince

Umberto di Savoia en, Albert Nicholas Thomas John Maria of Savoy , house = Savoy , father = Victor Emmanuel III of Italy , mother = Princess Elena of Montenegro , birth_date = , birth_place = Racconigi, Piedmont, Kingdom of Italy , dea ...

, who requisitioned a marble copy which he donated to the Comune of Palermo. In 1878, the sculpture was awarded a gold medal at the

Exposition Universelle of Paris Exposition (also the French for exhibition) may refer to: *Universal exposition or World's Fair *Expository writing **Exposition (narrative) *Exposition (music) *Trade fair * ''Exposition'' (album), the debut album by the band Wax on Radio *Exposi ...

. Initially placed in the gardens of

Villa Giulia The Villa Giulia is a villa in Rome, Italy. It was built by Pope Julius III in 1551–1553 on what was then the edge of the city. Today it is publicly owned, and houses the Museo Nazionale Etrusco, a collection of Etruscan art and artifacts. Hi ...

in Palermo, it was later moved to its current location, where it is displayed, albeit in a vandalized state, in a small Neo-Moorish pavilion in the Giardino Inglese public park.''Bernardo Civiletti''
article in Harper's Magazine, Volume 63, number 373 (1881), pages 82-87.

Gallery

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Canaris Monuments and memorials in Palermo 1875 in Italy Works about the Greek War of Independence

History and description

Gallery

See also

References