Object ID
2008.37.67
Object Name
Block, Printing
Date Created
1962 – 1963
Material
Lead; Wood
Object Entities
Damianos, John (is related to)
Mitzalis, Mike (is related to)
Ponouses, Tom (is related to)
Hogeorges, Steve (is related to)
Amers, Steve (is related to)
Georgiadis, Rev. (is related to)
Mitchell, George (is related to)
Pashalakis, George (is related to)
Harris, Elizabeth (is related to)
Matthew, George (is related to)
Object Description
Rectangular wood and cast lead printing block. The print image is a circular seal with the portrait of a man, from the shoulders up, at the center. The outline of the seal is formed by two laurel branches, crossed at the bottom and curving upward to form a circular shape. The man depicted in the center is bearded and looks off to the left. To the right of the man is a grouping of three squares connected so as to form a triangle between them. To the left of the man is a triangle. Below the image of the man is a banner with the name "Pythagoras" written across it.
Origin
Donated by John Damianos. The printing block was used in a linotype printing machine. Linotype presses allowed for the casting of entire lines to be printed at a time. Linotype printing was eventually succeeded by lithograph printing and computer typesetting during the 1960's and 1970's. This printing block was used by the Chicago-based, Greek Art Printing Company. This printing block was used in the printing of letterhead and programs for the Pan-Samian Society "Pythagoras." The Pan-Samian Society was an organization of Greek-American's who immigrated from or could trace thier ancestry back to the Greek island of Samos. Samos is a Greek island located in the Aegean Sea north of the Dodecanese Islands and right off the coast of Turkey. The Socieity's nickname, Pythagoras, comes from the famous Greek philosopher and mathematician, Pythagoras of Samos. Pythagoras is known for his developing and proving of the Pythagorean Theorum (A^2 + B^2 = C^2) that is used in geometry. The grouping of the three squares located to the right of Pythagoras' image is a common visual depiction of the Pythagorean Theorum. The image to the left of Pythagoras' image possibly represents a tetractys. Pythagoras is also credited with devising the tetractys, which is a triangular figure of ten points situated in four lines (one dot on the first line, two on the second, three on the third, and four on the fourth) that add up to the "perfect number," 10. The tetractys was a very important mystical symbol for the secret worshippers of a sect know as the Pythagoreans.
Rights and Reproduction
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Citation
Block, Printing, 1962 – 1963, Greek Art Printing Company Artifact Collection, National Hellenic Museum, https://collections.nationalhellenicmuseum.org/Detail/objects/9996. Accessed 03/28/24.