The Polygnotos Vagis Municipal Museum is located in the village of Potamia on the island of Thasos, 14 km from the main town of Limenas. It was established in August 1981 and is dedicated to the life and work of Polygnotos Vagis, a renowned artist who was born in the village. The museum is housed in a two-storey stone building, formerly the primary school, in the center of the village.
The museum‘s collection consists of 98 sculptures by Vagis. Of these, 25 are very small in size and are therefore displayed together in a single showcase. There are also fifteen of Vagis’s paintings from the period 1920–60. The works of his first period (1919–30) are mostly inspired by ancient Greek history and mythology and modern Greek history. His materials are plaster, bronze and marble. The works of his second period (1932 onwards) tend to be semi-abstract in style and are cast in bronze or concrete, or sculpted in stone, marble, wood or granite. They are figures and heads, stylised moons, eagles, and fish.
There are also a number of monumental works, such as the Bear with Newborn Cub, Cosmos, and a number of miniature sculptures.
References:The Villa d'Este is a 16th-century villa in Tivoli, near Rome, famous for its terraced hillside Italian Renaissance garden and especially for its profusion of fountains: the extraordinary system contains fifty-one fountains and nymphaeums, 398 spouts, 364 water jets, 64 waterfalls, and 220 basins, fed by 875 meters of canals, channels and cascades, and all working entirely by the force of gravity, without pumps. It is now an Italian state museum, and is listed as a UNESCO world heritage site.
Tivoli had been a popular summer residence since ancient Roman times due to its altitude, cooler temperatures and its proximity to the Villa Hadriana, the summer residence of the Emperor Hadrian I.
The Villa was commissioned by Cardinal Ippolito II d'Este (1509-1572), second son of Alfonso I d'Este, the Duke of Ferrara and grandson of Pope Alexander VI, along with Lucrezia Borgia.