All about Zakynthos

In front of the Church of Ag. Panton, on February 6, 1821, the brass bust of the English general Thomas Maitland (1765 - 1824), who was in charge of the English Protection, was placed. The bust was the work (1817) of the Corfiot sculptor Pavlos Prosalendis (1784 - 1837) the elder. At the base of the bust was the inscription: Thomas of Maitland Zacynthians "For the good hopes". AOIZ The base was adorned with a bronze plate with a relief composition, representing the goddess Athena, who with her right hand embraces Virtue and with her left hand reveals Evil. At the goddess' feet, there is a relief representation of her emblem, the wise owl. According to another interpretation, the composition represents Athena revealing the Lie before the Truth. The relief at the base of the bust is the work of the Danish sculptor Thorwaldsen Beztel, (1768 or 1770 - 1844), a pupil of Antonio Canova.The work was saved both during the occupation by the painter and poet Dimitrios Pelekasis, and in the earthquake of 1953, and was installed in the building of the Town Hall. After the remodelling construction of the Town Hall building, the relief remains inside the building, but it is not now embedded anywhere. The bust of Maitland, during the Italian occupation, was taken to Italy from where traces of it were lost. Apparently it was melted down.