Cretan School describes an important school of icon painting, under the umbrella of post-Byzantine art, which flourished while Crete was under Venetian rule during the Late Middle Ages, reaching its climax after the Fall of Constantinople, becoming the central force in Greek painting during the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries. The Cretan artists developed a particular style of painting under the influence of both Eastern and Western artistic traditions and movements; the most famous product of the school, El Greco, was the most successful of the many artists who tried to build a career in Western Europe, and also the one who left the Byzantine style farthest behind him in his later career.
Dionysius of Fourna was an author, educator, painter, and monk. He was one of the most influential painters of the 18th century. He was a monk on the isolated self-autonomous monastery of Mount Athos. He was a self-taught painter. He was exposed to the works of the Cretan School and Heptanese School but choose to paint in the traditional style. His works are a mixture of different styles including the palaeologan renaissance. He was active from 1685 to 1744. According to the Hellenic Institute, two of his fresco and ten of his icons have survived. He was active while the Heptanese School flourished. His contemporary at the time was the painter David both artists belong to a class of their own. His student and coworker was famous Greek painter Kyrillos Foteinos. He was from Chios. Some of his other students were Zacharias Vakos, Agapios and two painters known as Petros. Dionysios was also the author of a famous manual on painting.
The Byzantine and Christian Museum is situated at Vassilissis Sofias Avenue in Athens, Greece. It was founded in 1914, and houses more than 25,000 exhibits with rare collections of pictures, scriptures, frescoes, pottery, fabrics, manuscripts, and copies of artifacts from the 3rd century AD to the Late Middle Ages. It is one of the most important museums in the world in Byzantine Art. In June 2004, in time for its 90th anniversary and the 2004 Athens Olympics, the museum reopened to the public after an extensive renovation and the addition of another wing.
The Heptanese School of painting succeeded the Cretan School as the leading school of Greek post-Byzantine painting after Crete fell to the Ottomans in 1669. Like the Cretan school, it combined Byzantine traditions with an increasing Western European artistic influence and also saw the first significant depiction of secular subjects. The school was based in the Ionian Islands, which were not part of Ottoman Greece, from the middle of the 17th century until the middle of the 19th century. The center of Greek art migrated urgently to the Ionian islands but countless Greek artists were influenced by the school including the ones living throughout the Greek communities in the Ottoman Empire and elsewhere in the world.
Victor was a Greek painter in Venice active during the middle part of the 16th century. The only surviving painting is his self portrait. He was a painter during the High Renaissance. He drastically escaped the maniera greca. He is comparable to Ioannis Permeniates.
Victor was a painter active during the 17th century. He represented the late Cretan school. He was influenced by Michael Damaskinos. He kept his style simple and followed the lines of the improved maniera greca which was heavily influenced by the Venetian school. One of his main influences was Michael Damaskinos. He was active when four different artists used the name Victor. He has a huge catalog of work attributed to him. According to the Neo-Hellenic Institute, ninety-five of his paintings and one fresco survived. He was an extremely popular Greek icon painter.
Euphrosynos was a Greek Renaissance painter. He was a priest and influenced by Byzantine art and the early Cretan School. Five of his works have survived, all of them are in Greece. His technique resembled the works of Andreas Pavias, Angelos Akotantos, and Andreas Ritzos. Euphrosynos may have been a member of the prominent Klontzas family. His paintings of the Virgin Mary and Jesus are typical Cretan School paintings. His Jesus painting resembles Pavias's painting Christ Pantocrator. All of his works are at Mount Athos in the Dionysiou Monastery. They decorate the iconostasis. Fragkos Katelanos and Theophanes the Cretan were also working at Mount Athos around the same period.
Iakovos Moskos or Moschos was a Greek painter. He shared the same name as three other famous Greek painters Ioannis Moskos, Elias Moskos and Leos Moskos. He was affiliated with Saint Catherine's Monastery. Moskos painted in the typical Greek style. He was active during Greek Rococo and the end of the baroque period in Greek art. Ioannis Kornaros was exposed to his work while he was at the monastery. He was known for painting the Holy place of Mount Sinai the assumed location where Moses received the commandments. It is his most notable work. Eight of his paintings have survived.
Ioannis Tzen also known as Ioannis Dzenos, was a 17th-century Greek baroque painter. He was active on the Ionian islands and a prominent member of the local school. He also represented Crete towards the end of the Cretan School. His painting style reflects an affiliation with Emmanuel Tzanes. He was active on the island Corfu. Greek painters affiliated with the same island active during the same period were Theodore Poulakis, Stephanos Tzangarolas. Fifteen of his works have survived. His most notable work is a painting of the Virgin and Child.
The Stoning of Saint Stephen is an egg tempera and gold leaf painting created by Greek master Michael Damaskinos. He was a member of the Cretan school. He integrated Venetian painting with the Greek mannerisms prevalent at the time. Damaskinos was active in Heraklion, Sicily, Venice, and other parts of Italy. The Stoning of Stephen has been depicted by countless Greek and Italian painters. Saint Stephen was a protomartyr. He was the first martyr of Christianity. He was stoned to death for following the new faith. The painting is a depiction of that event.
The Crucifixion is a tempera painting by Konstantinos Paleokapas. Paleokapas was a Greek painter from the island of Crete. He was active during the early part of the 1600s. Six of his works survived, four are signed. The Crucifixion is one of the most popular events in human history. The scene has been duplicated countless times. Many crucifixion paintings were created by painters from the island of Crete. Some painters included El Greco, Andreas Pavias, Georgios Markazinis and Ioannis Moskos. Paleokapas created his own version of the popular subject. His crucifixion painting followed the prototype of many other paintings thematically. He added both the dice players and the resurrection of the dead. Andreas Pavias’s The Crucifixion (Pavias) and Margkazinis’s The Crucifixion (Margkazinis) both feature the popular pictorial representation of Mathews gospel. Paleokapas’s Crucifixion is located at the Gonia Monastery in Crete.
The Virgin and Child on Bronze is an egg tempera painting by Greek painter Elias Moskos. Moskos was originally from Crete. The painter migrated to Zakinthos. Two other painters with the name Moskos were active during his lifetime. They were Ioannis Moskos and Leos Moskos. All three painters were affiliated with Venice. Fifty-two of Elias's paintings survived. It is difficult to characterize the work of some painters belonging to the late Cretan School. Some artists also belong to the Heptanese School. The technical migration from the maniera Greca of Cretan-Venetian painting to the more refined Ionian-Venetian style is visible in the works of Elias Moskos and Theodoros Poulakis. His painting of the Virgin and Child drastically migrates from the traditional mannerism prevalent in Cretan painting. The painting clearly belongs to the Heptanese School. His painting of the Virgin and Child is at the Benaki Museum in Athens Greece.
The Deposition from the Cross or Descent from the Cross is a tempera painting created by Greek painter Stylianos Stavrakis. He was active during the early part of the 1700s. His nephew and brother were also famous painters. His nephew Demetrios Stavrakis was also his pupil. He was also a goldsmith. Most of his works were completed on the island of Zakynthos. He was a representative of the Heptanese school and Greek Rococo. Fourteen of his paintings survived.
Assumption of Mary was a painting created by Greek painter Nikolaos Doxaras. He was the son of famous Greek painter Panagiotis Doxaras. Nikolaos flourished on the Ionian Islands. He was a representative of the Heptanese School. He traveled all of the Ionian Islands painting. He spent close to a decade in Venice. He had a relationship with Johann Schulenberg. Doxaras stayed with him from 1730 to 1738 at the Palazzo Loredan. He was his confidant at the Schulenburg Art Gallery. He also painted for Schulenburg. He left Venice and continued painting all over the Ionian islands until his death. He was active from 1725 to 1775. Five of his paintings survived. Both Nikolaos and his father attempted to popularize oil painting.
A Scene from the Life of John Chrysostom is an oil painting created by Greek Painter Spyridon Ventouras. He was a representative of the Heptanese School. He was active on the Ionian island Lefkada. He traveled to Venice and studied painting at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Venezia. He had an active career for approximately fifty-five years. His activity ranged from 1780 to 1835. The Institute of Neohellenic Research cataloged over sixty of his paintings. Five of them were portraits.
Lamentation of Christ is an oil painting created by Greek painter Nikolaos Kantounis. He was a painter and teacher. He was a priest. His teachers were famous painters Ioannis Korais and Nikolaos Koutouzis He was a representative of the Heptanese School. His artwork was created during the Neoclassical and Romantic periods in Greek art. He was active on the island of Zakynthos from 1782–1834. He was one of the earliest members of the modern Greek art period. Over 164 of his paintings have survived. He is known for painting many portraits. He was a member of the secret organization for Greek Independence called the Filiki Eteria. Towards the end of his life he was honored with the rank of Grand Sakellarios.
The Holy Towel is a tempera painting completed in 1659 by Emmanuel Tzanes. He was a representative of the Late Cretan School and the Heptanese School. His brothers were the painter and poet Marinos Tzanes and the painter Konstantinos Tzanes. One hundred thirty works of art are attributed to Emmanuel. He is one of the most important Greek painters of the 17th century along with Theodoros Poulakis. He was from Rethymno Crete. He was active from 1625 to 1690. He was the priest of San Giorgio dei Greci in Venice for thirty years.
Tribute to the Eucharist was a painting made of egg tempera and gold leaf on a wood panel. The portable icon is attributed to Greek painter Michael Damaskinos. Damaskino's existing catalog features over 100 known works. He was a member of the Cretan school of painting. He was from the island of Crete. His contemporaries were Georgios Klontzas and El Greco. Damaskinos traveled all over Italy for over twenty years. He spent a significant amount of time in Venice. He adopted Italian mannerisms. He applied these new attributes to his paintings. He was friends with sculptor Alessandro Vittoria. He had a collection of drawings obtained from other Italian artists. Namely the Mannerist Parmigianino. He was also exposed to the magnificent works of Italian painter Raphael.
Nikolaos Gripiotis aka Nicolò Gripioti, was a Greek painter and teacher. He was a prominent member of the Cretan School in the early 1500s, working alongside such practitioners as Michael Fokas and Giorgio Miçocostantin. No work survives bearing his signature, but documents from the period record thousands of icons produced by his workshop. Nikolaos's son Ioannis Gripiotis also became a prominent painter. The family was related by marriage to Arsenius Apostolius.
Michael Fokas, also known as Migiel Fuca, was a Greek icon painter and art instructor. He came from a prominent family of painters, the founders of the Cretan School; working in this style, Fokas's workshop mass-produced icons for Greek and Italian clients. No surviving painting bears Fokas's signature, but history has preserved a commission for 200 icons which he received on July 4, 1499. This important document charges Fokas to produce works based upon the prototype Madre della Consolazione, originally created by Nikolaos Tzafouris and modeled after Giovanni Bellini.
Adoration of the Magi by Ioannis Permeniatis
Death of Markos Botsaris by Marsigli Filippo
Mitre of 1715
