Spyridon Prosalentis

Prosalentis was descended from a noble Byzantine family, who fled to areas under the control of the Venetian Republic after the Fall of Constantinople.

His father was Pavlos Prosalentis, who is considered to be the first significant modern Greek sculptor and, in 1811, created Greece's first art school.

[4] He remained in the Austrian Empire until 1865 and, when he returned, received an appointment as Professor of painting at the Athens School of Fine Arts.

[2] In 1870, he won a major award at the "Exhibition of Fine Arts" in Parma, and was invited to return to Greece by King George I.

[4] Upon commission from the Royal Family of Greece, Prosalentis completed several series of portraits of notable personalities from the Greek Revolution, the University of Athens, and the War and Navy Departments.