Goddess-Like Sculpture of Maria Callas Unveiled in Venice

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Goddess-Like Sculpture of Maria Callas Unveiled in Venice

Maria Callas’ ethereal statue has been adorning the entrance of the famous Teatro La Fenice in Venice, Italy. Credit:

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/Nikos Floros

The unique and ethereal figure of Maria Callas, the Greek opera legend, has been recently adorning the city of Venice in Italy through an imposing goddess-like sculpture made by a Greek sculptor.

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, an ambassador of contemporary Greek art, sculpted the impressive statue made out of steel. It is 2.5 meters high and weighs half a ton. The fact that the statue is made of steel, symbolizes the timeless endurance of Callas’ myth, while the artist stresses her Greek origin by portraying her like a Caryatid (an ancient female figure that served as the architectural support of a building), with the Greek flag gracefully wrapped around her dress.

“I presented Maria Callas dressed in the Greek flag as an ancient Greek goddess, that reveals Greece through her human shape,” Floros wrote in one of his posts on social media after the statue was unveiled.

Another intriguing detail: on her left hand, the Greek soprano holds the fathogram of the aria “Casta Diva,” the famous soprano prayer from Bellini’s opera “Norma” that had defined Callas’ career.

Nikos Floros wanted to portray Maria Callas as an “ancient Greek goddess.” Credit:

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/Nikos Floros

Unveiling the sculpture outside a landmark Venice theater

The sculpture adorns the entrance of

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in the Italian city of Venice, a landmark in the Greek soprano’s career. There, in 1947, Maria Callas performed for the first time Puccini’s opera “Turandot,” holding the leading role.

The statue was unveiled on December 21, during an event that combined history, art and music. It was organized by architect Androniki Foutsitzoglou (Roni Fuci).

“The life and career of Maria Callas are a source of endless inspiration,” Foutsitzoglou said. “Nikos Floros’ sculpture reveals in a unique way, the dynamic but also the fragility of her personality, making Callas a global art symbol.”

The event was attended by numerous people from the world of Arts and Letters of Venice, including Venice’s deputy mayor for Arts, Paola Mar, writer Elena Mathaiopoulou and professor Katerina Karpinato.

After Venice, the sculpture will travel across the world in various cultural events, following the life and career of the legendary Greek soprano.

Maria Callas, a legend that lives on

Maria Callas may have died 47 years ago but her immortal voice lives on, along with her legend. It’s no mystery why Greeks, Italians and Americans, all claim Callas as theirs.

She was born Sophia Cecilia Anna Maria Kalogeropoulou on Dec. 2, 1923, in New York, her family name later shortened to Callas. Educated in Greece, she started performing at the age of 8.

She lived in New York for her first thirteen years. Though she then lived mostly in Europe, she also sang in the U.S. from 1954 to 1974 and English was her native language. She learned Greek from her parents.

In Verona she meets Giovanni Battista Meneghini, a wealthy industrialist who is passionate about opera. Twenty-eight years her senior, he became her impresario and then-husband in 1949.

In 1954 she lost around 30 kilos (66 pounds) and transformed into the ultimate diva, taking top parts in the most well-known operas.

In 1959 Callas leaves Meneghini to embark on a passionate nine-year affair with shipping tycoon Aristotle Onassis. Their idyll ends in 1968 when Onassis leaves Callas to marry the widowed Jackie Kennedy.

Callas turns her back on opera in 1965. On February 20 she triumphs in “Tosca” in Paris. During a performance on May 29, she falls ill. On July 5, “despite the advice of her doctor,” she takes to the stage for the last time in London, with Queen Elizabeth II in the audience.

In 1973 Callas undertakes an international tour of recitals. In Paris, bouquets rained onto the stage, accompanied by standing ovations and cries of “Viva Maria,” even if the critics were less enthusiastic.

Callas dies at her Paris home on Sept. 16, 1977, aged 53, having suffered a heart attack.

 

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