Grískur hermaður frá Aphaia hofinu á eyjunni Aegina

Hinn klassíski arfur grískrar mynd­listar var undir­stað­an í kennslu evr­ópskra lista­háskóla allt frá tím­um ítölsku endur­reisnar­inn­ar og langt fram á 20. öld. Þann­ig var það einn­ig í Konung­lega lista­háskól­an­um í Kaup­manna­höfn þeg­ar Sigur­jón hóf þar nám sitt haust­ið 1928. Sigur­jón mót­aði með­al ann­ars kópíu af Fall­andi her­manni frá Aphaia-hof­inu eftir gifs­afsteypu sem var á verk­stæði Thorvald­sens í Róm, en Thorvald­sen tók að sér að lag­færa allar högg­mynd­irn­ar sem fund­ust grísku eyj­unni Aegína árið 1811 − en þær voru flutt­ar í Glypto­tekið í Mün­chen þar sem þær eru enn.
    Stytta Sigurjóns var sýnd í Sýn­ingar­skál­an­um í Reykja­vík sum­arið 1931 ásamt Verkamanninum (LSÓ 1017), gull­verðl­auna­verki hans. Styttan eyði­lagð­ist í eldi, en höfð­inu tókst að bjarga.
The dying Warrior from the Temple of Aphaia

The classical Greek legacy was the aesthetic paradigm in teach­ing of Europ­ean art aca­dem­ies from the Renais­sance era and well into the 20th cent­ury. This was also the case at the Royal Aca­demy of Art in Copen­hagen when Sigur­jón Ólafs­son began his stud­ies in the autumn of 1928. One of his school-works was a mold­ed copy of a fal­ling soldi­er from the pedi­ments of the Temple of Aphaia, exe­cut­ed after a copy from Thor­vald­sen's atelier in Rome. Bertel Thor­vald­sen (1770 − 1844) was hired to re­store all the origin­als shortly after they were dis­cov­er­ed in 1811 on the Greek island Aegina and trans­port­ed to the Glypto­thek in Munich where they are still con­serv­ed.
    Sigurjón's copy was ex­hib­it­ed in the Reykja­vík in 1931 along with his golden prize work Labourer (LSÓ 1017). The statue is lost, only the head of the soldier is preserved.
Birgitta Spur