Bank of Greece circulates first collectable coin with color

The Bank of Greece Printing and Banking Foundation (IETA), in the context of its monetary program for 2017, proceeded with the production of a collector coin blister dedicated to 175 years since the birth of Nikolaos Gizis.

This is the first coin produced using color. Its release to the public began on Tuesday December 12, 2017.

The collector's coin depicts the bust of Nikolaos Gyzis on the front and a painter's palette with his signature on the back. It was designed by award-winning engraver of the Bank of Greece Giorgos Stamatopoulos.

Nikolaos Gyzis (1842-1901), one of the top modern Greek painters, was born in Tinos but grew up in Athens where he attended classes at the School of Arts (later School of Fine Arts).

In 1865 he received a scholarship to study at the famous Academy of Fine Arts in Munich, where he assimilated the flawless technique and lessons of academic realism. With the exception of small periods when he lived and worked in Greece, he spent the rest of his life mainly in Munich, where he became a professor of the Academy.

After his trip to Asia Minor together with Nikiphoros Lytra, his work was enriched in color and focused mainly on Greek ethnographic themes. In its later stage, his art became more poetic and idealistic, often inspired by Greek mythology and religious themes, with obvious influence from symbolism.