Natalia Mela creates "The Rooster"

Natalia Mela (1923-2019) was the daughter of Macedonian Struggle fighter Pavlos Melas and Natalia Dragoumi, and one of the most notable modern Greek female sculptors. She graduated from the Athens School of Fine Arts, where she was a student of Kostas Dimitriadis and Michalis Tombros. Mela also attended the workshop of Thanasis Apartis. After her graduation, she set up her own studio workshop, which quickly became a meeting place for major artists of the 30s generation, like Yiannis Tsarouchis, Nikos Engonopoulos, Andreas Empeirikos and her close friend Yiannis Moralis.

In 1951 she married famous architect Aris Konstantinidis. She created her first sculptures using marble, clay, and stone, having been greatly influenced by Pikionis' work. Later, she started using iron as a medium and, influenced by Picasso and Duchamp, she worked with geometric and abstract forms. She became internationally known with a sculpture series based on the animal kingdom where her most distinctive work "Rooster" belongs. In March 2011, the Academy of Athens honored her with the Excellence in Fine Arts Award for her "innovative and expressive work."