The Propylaea, the building, and its monumental quad comprise not only a place of remembrance but also an open art gallery. The building was founded in 1839 on the designs of the Danish architect Hans Christian Hansen and composes, together with the buildings of the Academy and the National Library the Athenian Trilogy, the most famous and emblematic complex of neoclassical buildings in the city center. Apart from the architecture, we mention the painted decorations of the building, with the most characteristic examples being the fresco on the inner façade of the Propylaea - where Otto is depicted seated on a throne, surrounded by the sciences, reborn in the newly established state. The Sciences are personified as female figures according to the fashion of the Renaissance. To the left and right of the central scene, a narrative of the ancient world is depicted, with Prometheus leading. He is followed by a series of personages from the ancient Greek world - philosophers, warriors, politicians, poets, etc. The procession ends with the Apostle Paul, who symbolizes the transition from paganism to Christianity. The iconographic sequence in the ceremonial hall depicts famous men from antiquity among the Greek scholars who made their work known. In 1861, the mural design of the inner façade was commissioned by Baron Simeon Sinas, who had also undertaken the financing, to the painter Carl Rahl. Due to financial difficulties, the mural was finally completed after the death of Karl Rahl by the painter Eduard Lebiedski in 1888, with a donation by the Diaspora Greek Stergios Dumbas from Vienna.
The sculptural composition in the quad of the building complemented the architectural and artistic character of the University of Athens. In 1869, on the celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of the Revolution of 1821, the Rectorate commissioned two statues, one of Rigas Velestinlis and one of Patriarch Gregory V, which were placed in the Propylaea of the University during a public ceremony. In the following years, the statues of the humanist scholar Adamantios Korais, the British politician Gladstone, the first governor of the country Ioannis Kapodistrias and votive stele for the students who died in the wars were placed in the quad of the Propylaea and transformed it into a symbolic location dedicated to modern times, and also connected to antiquity. The Portrait Collection of the University of Athens is housed in the main building, the History Museum, the Historical Archives, and the Cultural Center of the University of Athens. The paintings of this modern Greek gallery depict mainly professors of the schools, teachers of the nation, benefactors, donors, politicians, and general secretaries of the University of Athens.
Why do you gaze at us so still?… Where does your mind drift,
your winged dreams?…
Why are there not springing from your forehead, old man, as many golden rays,
as the solaces and hopes your face gives us?
Why on your celestial lips, a smile, father, cannot break sweetly?…
Why can't your heart throb inside your breast,
Why cannot your heart tear up inside your breasts,
and why not a single tear sheds on your eyelid, nor does your light shine?…
[…]
The marble remains silent… And his dead mouth
will remain silent for how long no one knows;
He sleeps and dreams… And he will wake up,
when the forests, the mountains, the seas, will roar with our fierce herald…
"Strike, warlords!… The Patriarch's rope, children, never forget it!"…
Excerpt from the speech delivered by the poet Aristotelis Valaoritis during the unveiling of the statue of Patriarch Gregory the 5th, 1872.
