Inscriptions: H CΤΑΥΡΩCΗ TȢ IC XȢ, Crucifixion; H ΑΝΑCΤΑCΗ, Resurrection; H ΑΝΑΛΗΨΗ, Ascension; ΕΥΑΓΓΕΛΙCΜΟC, Annunciation; ΓΕΝΝΗCΗ,Nativity; ΒΑΠΤΙCΜΑ, Baptism This icon may have once been one of a pair that illustrated...
Inscriptions: H CΤΑΥΡΩCΗ TȢ IC XȢ,
Crucifixion; H ΑΝΑCΤΑCΗ, Resurrection; H ΑΝΑΛΗΨΗ, Ascension; ΕΥΑΓΓΕΛΙCΜΟC, Annunciation; ΓΕΝΝΗCΗ,Nativity; ΒΑΠΤΙCΜΑ, Baptism
This icon may have once been one of a pair that illustrated
the twelve ‘Great Feasts’ of the Orthodox Church such as would be needed in a
small, perhaps very small, church or chapel together with images of Christ, the
Mother of God, Old Testament Prophets and Church Fathers.
The great icon painting traditions of Byzantium continued in
Crete after the fall of Constantinople in 1453. Crete had been under Venetian rule since the
13th century and it was there that the greatest masters such as
Angelos Akotantos had established themselves and where the Cretan School, soon
to become highly admired throughout Italy, developed. With the fall of Candia
(today Heraklion) to the Ottoman Empire in 1669 painters of the Cretan School
relocated to the Ionian Islands.
The style shows the end of the gradual transition over three
hundred years from the abstract severity of medieval Constantinople to the
baroque exuberance of 18th century Venice. However the techniques of
wood panel, gesso, gold ground, tempera paints and inscriptions in Greek
remained unchanged. The result is an
intriguing and highly decorative fusion of cultures and styles.