Kostas Michos

Fotinos the Tightrope Walker (painting representation inspired by the poem of Ar. Valaoritis), height 44 centimeters. Estimated value: €480

The performances depicted are related to the following verses:
“Take a stake, Mitro,
and drive away those dogs that are ruining my seedling.
The cripple ate my poor fingers
and melted my liver on the grindstone….
Have you forgotten and can’t you hear me?….I’m calling you, Mitro,
drive away, I tell you, the dogs that are ruining my seedling….
And the old man rushes like a young man with a sudden leap
and grabs his pitchfork. His eyes are filled with anger.
With his whistle, he splits a bullet in two
and throws it at the copper cauldron. He swiftly spins it
and smashes it forcefully. A angry dog is wounded in the leg,
and another is struck in the skull and falls to the ground
.…………

From the black fog emerges a horseman
and his horse stops in front of the tightrope walker…
“You shot at me, old man, you peasant,
my two greyhounds?”
“Only me and no one else.”
“Speak more humbly…Bow your head,
bow to your master, you scoundrel, you lackey!”
And the Frank hits him on the head with a stick…
…………

She refused the life of a thief, its fiery dreams
and became a tightrope walker…
……..

Only he remained. The Gitauro, the Pala,
the Digenis, the Roupakia, were all hanged,
and others were crushed by the wheel….
………….

Throw a log into the fire to make ten Thracians fall,
so that my feet can get warm and I can kiss Thodoula…
…….

The Franks were drunk, lying down at the Logothetis’. And even from that time on, Thodoula, they never woke up….”