A LEGO minifigure portrait of Acropolis Museum Founder, Prof. Dimitrios Pantermalis, created by Australian LEGO Pop Artist Liam D. Jensen, is now on permanent display at the Acropolis Museum, Athens.
Shortly after the sad death of Prof. Dimitrios Pantermalis in late 2022, the Acropolis Museum reached out to Mr Jensen to request an extra minifigure portrait to be placed in the LEGO Acropolis model that stands in the Museum.
The request was meant as memorial to Prof. Pantermalis pivotal role in establishing the Acropolis Museum and his leadership and tenacity in lobbying to have the Acropolis Marbles returned to Greece, where a place waits for them in the Museum.
Mr Jensen originally made a portrait of Prof. Pantermalis in 2019 as part of the Brick Classicists Empire (or BCE) project. It was sent to Prof. Pantermalis and according to staff at the Museum, the portrait was loved by him and his family, who still have it.
Museum staff requested another minifigure portrait be made for the Museum after his death, to be added to the LEGO Acropolis.
The LEGO Acropolis model was gifted to the Acropolis Museum in 2014 by the then-senior curator Michael Turner of the Nicholson Museum (now the CCW Museum) at the University of Sydney, Australia.
This came about after Prof. Pantermalis sent word to Michael Turner to request a loan of the model, but Turner insisted on donating it instead. The model is currently displayed on the Acropolis Museum’s Kids Corner on the second floor.
Mr Jensen said he was “very honoured and touched to make and donate the special minifigure portrait to the Acropolis Museum.”
“As always with these BCE minifigure portraits, I try to keep the design simple yet characteristic of the person who is being portrayed in the medium of a LEGO minifigure. With Prof. Pantermalis, I wanted it to have straightforward dignity with a hint of joyful enthusiasm, reflecting great and astonishing work over his lifetime,” Mr Jensen said.
“The ironic lens of seeing real people portrayed as LEGO minifigures, as though they came straight out of an official LEGO set, opens up a new perspective allowing us to see the person in new way and leveling us all, so that with childlike wonder and joy we can see our real selves.”
Mr Jensen was excited to learn recently that the figure has indeed been proudly placed in the LEGO Acropolis, along with Liam’s LEGO portrait of current Museum Director, Prof. Nikolaos Stampolidis, a playful, joyful reminder of Prof. Pantermalis’ pivotal, tenacious and enduring work.
