1821 Before and After: Greeks and Greece, Revolution and State

Exhibition catalogue: the most important exhibition ever organised by the Benaki Museum and the most extensive exhibition on modern Hellenism ever presented.

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Athens: Benaki Museum, 2021. In English. Soft cover, 23.5 cm, 1218 pp., rich colour illustration (1300 color pictures, maps and drawings); net weight 2080 gr. ISBN: 978-960-476-283-5.

More than 1,200 objects gathered in the exhibition and spread across the 1,218 pages of the accompanying catalogue showcase one hundred years of modern Greek history, between 1770 and 1870. This century begins with the moral and economic preparations for the liberation of the Greeks, reaches an apex with the 1821 Revolution and concludes with the first decades of the operation and development of the new Greek state. Through rare works of art and special testimonies from each era, the three parts of the exhibition and the corresponding chapters of the catalogue offer a fascinating journey of history and art, a journey that in each step reveals why this adventurous century remains so deeply engaging, even in the 21st century.

The monumental catalogue 1821 Before and After: Greeks and Greece, Revolution and State is one of the most important publications on modern Greece in recent years.

Luxurious testimonies and artefacts of everyday life from the pre-revolutionary period, mementoes of war from the Revolution years, along with documents related to all forms of Greek administration, coexist with bourgeois and popular artworks from the first decades of the new state, combined with works of art from the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries; altogether, they testify to the echoes and reception of the Greek War of Independence. Together with loans from the co-organiser banks, from organizations and from private collectors, the extensive collections amassed by Antonis Benakis for the Museum he founded and donated to the Greek state take pride of place. These works create a deeply meaningful assemblage that traces the enchanting story of modern Greeks and brings to the fore the reasons of their very existence, their perseverance and how far they have travelled: all the positive elements that have shaped modern Hellenism.

CONTENTS:

FOREWORDS

INTRODUCTORY TEXTS

HELLENISM AND OTTOMAN RULE: Ottoman Empire and Administration 63 ◊ Travellers in Greek Lands and the Beginning of Philhellenism 81◊ Daily Life 97◊ Greek Commerce and Guilds 173◊ Education and Publishing 209◊ The Church and Worship 249◊ The Russo-Turkish War and the Orlov Revolt 271◊ Rigas Velestinles (Pherrhaeos) 287 ◊ Ali Pasha, Souli and European Powers in the Ionian Sea 299 ◊ Armatoloi and Klefts 327 ◊ The Filiki Eteria 337

REVOLUTION AND ITS HEROES Eighteen Twenty-One 357 ◊ Eighteen Twenty-Two 385 ◊ Eighteen Twenty-Three 407 ◊ Eighteen Twenty-Four 425 ◊ Eighteen Twenty-Five 437 ◊ Eighteen Twenty-Six 453 ◊ Eighteen Twenty-Seven 471 ◊ Portraits of 1821 495 ◊ Philhellenism 581 ◊ Ioannis Kapodistrias and the First Steps of the Greek State 613

GREEKS AND THE STATE Τhe Arrival of King Otho 659 ◊ The Royals and the Palace 675 ◊ State Officials and Infrastructure 709 ◊ Economy, Education and the Church 729 ◊ The Constitution and General Elections 765◊ The Megale Ιdea – The 'Great Idea' 781◊ The Nafplion Uprising and the Expulsion of King Otto 791 ◊ Moral Reward and the Deaths of Fighters 803 ◊ Revolution, Art and Symbolism 829 ◊ A New Capital, Bridges to the Past and the Other Cities 839 ◊ The Faces of the Young State 979 ◊ From foustanella to the Western Dress 1003 ◊ The Election of King George I and the Unification of the Ionian Islands 1059 ◊ The New Royals, the Politicians and the New Court 1077 ◊ Banditry 1119 ◊ Public Works and Education 1125 ◊ Irredentism 1147 ◊ Popularity and the Second Life of the Revolution 1155 ◊ The Resilience of '1821' in Twentieth Century Art 1171 ◊ The Corinth Canal: A Gash Through the Earth, a Step into the Future 1197 ◊ 'Hail, oh Hail, Liberty' 1207

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