Angelos Akotantos (

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

: Άγγελος Ακοτάντος 1390-1457) was a

painter, educator, and

protopsaltis In Christianity, the cantor, sometimes called the precentor or the protopsaltes (; from ), is the chief singer, and usually instructor, employed at a church, with responsibilities for the choir and the preparation of the Mass or worship service. ...

. He painted in the Byzantine style or

maniera greca Italo-Byzantine is a style term in art history, mostly used for medieval paintings produced in Italy under heavy influence from Byzantine art. It initially covers religious paintings copying or imitating the standard Byzantine icon types, but pa ...

. He represented the transition from the Byzantine style of painting to the more refined

Cretan School 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, becom ...

. Angelos's students were

Andreas Pavias Andreas Pavias ( el, Ανδρέας Παβίας 1440-1504/1512) was a Greek painter and educator. He was one of the founding fathers of the Cretan School, and his works influenced countless artists both Italian and Greek; paintings by Pavias coul ...

Andreas Ritzos Andreas Ritzos ( el, Ανδρέας Ρίτζος 1421-1492) also known as (Rico, Ricio, Rizo). He was a Greeks, Greek icon painter, from Crete. Ritzos is considered one of the founding fathers of the Cretan School. He was affiliated with Angel ...

, and Antonios Papadopoulos. He influenced the future artists of the

, namely

Georgios Klontzas Georgios Klontzas ( el, Γεώργιος Κλώντζας, 1535-1608) also known as George Klontzas and Zorzi Cloza dito Cristianopullo. He was a scholar, painter, and manuscript illuminator. He is one of the most influential artists of the post-B ...

Theophanes the Cretan Theophanis Strelitzas ( el, Θεοφάνης Στρελίτζας 1490–1559), also known as Theophanes the Cretan (, pronounced ''Theophanes O Krees'') or Theophanes Bathas () was a Greek painter of icons and frescos in the style of the Cretan ...

Michael Damaskinos Michael Damaskenos or Michail Damaskenos ( el, Μιχαήλ Δαμασκηνός, 1530/35–1592/93) was a leading post-Byzantine Cretan painter. He is a major representative of the Cretan School of painting that flourished in the 16th and 1 ...

and

El Greco Domḗnikos Theotokópoulos ( el, Δομήνικος Θεοτοκόπουλος ; 1 October 1541 7 April 1614), most widely known as El Greco ("The Greek"), was a Greek painter, sculptor and architect of the Spanish Renaissance. "El G ...

. Angelos's brother Ioannis Akotantos was also a famous painter. There are 50 paintings all over the world by Akotantos. Thirty are signed and twenty have been reliably attributed to the artist.

History

Angelos Akotantos was born in Crete. He had a sister and two brothers; one of the latter was the famous painter Ioannis Akotantos. Much information about Angelos's life is drawn from the will he composed in 1436, in advance of a planned journey to Constantinople. The document is now housed in the State Archives of Venice. At the time of writing, Angelos was married to Eleni Marmara and they were expecting their first child. He was relatively wealthy with a significant number of possessions. Angelos enjoyed a high level of education—as demonstrated by his ability to write his own will—and owned a big and valuable library. He specified that if his child died young the books in this library should be sold and the money raised should go to charities of his choice. Alongside his painting activities, he was a chanter and teacher of music; the Venetian authorities appointed him protopsaltis (first chanter), an honorable position carrying a government salary. He was familiar with the monastic superior of Saint Phanourios at Versamonero, and the will grants the institution a sum of money to hold memorial services after his death. He also had a relationship with the monastery of Saint Catherine, leaving them an icon of the eponymous saint. Akotantos's paintings are extremely popular and his style has been copied by many icon painters. Copies of his paintings can be found in churches and private collections all over the world namely Greece. One church that exhibits a copy of an Akotantos painting is the Church of St. Symeon, Mytilene. They have Saint Anne with the Virgin. Akotantos was one of the most important Greek painters of the first half of the 15th century. The center of

Byzantine art Byzantine art comprises the body of Christian Greek artistic products of the Eastern Roman Empire, as well as the nations and states that inherited culturally from the empire. Though the empire itself emerged from the decline of Rome and lasted ...

was transferred from the capital of the

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...

Heraklion Heraklion or Iraklion ( ; el, Ηράκλειο, , ) is the largest city and the administrative capital of the island of Crete and capital of Heraklion regional unit. It is the fourth largest city in Greece with a population of 211,370 (Urban A ...

because of the

fall of Constantinople The Fall of Constantinople, also known as the Conquest of Constantinople, was the capture of the capital of the Byzantine Empire by the Ottoman Empire. The city fell on 29 May 1453 as part of the culmination of a 53-day siege which had begun o ...

in 1453. He supplied icons to Greek churches and monasteries on Crete, Patmos, Rhodes, and elsewhere. Akotantos painted icons of

Saint Phanourios Saint Phanourios (Greek: Άγιος Φανούριος), also known as St. Phanourios the Newly-Manifest (Greek: Άγιος Φανούριος ο Νεοφανής) is recognized as a saint by the Greek Orthodox Church. He is commemorated on August ...

killing the dragon, similar to

Saint George Saint George (Greek: Γεώργιος (Geórgios), Latin: Georgius, Arabic: القديس جرجس; died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was a Christian who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to tradition he was a soldier ...

, a local tradition found in the icons of the 15th century in

Crete Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, and ...

. Many scholars believe that the famous painter Angelos who is responsible for countless paintings is actually Akotantos. He inspired countless painters and most of his work is emulated even today.M. Vassilaki, "The Painter Angelos and Icon-Painting in Venetian Crete", Farnham 2009

Gallery

File:Panagia Glykophilousa.Crete.15cent.Museum.of.the.Russian.icon.png, The Virgin and Child File:Angelos Akotantos - The Virgin Cardiotissa - WGA00097.jpg, The Virgin Cardiotissa File:Virgin Glykophilousa by Angelos Akotantos (Byzantine museum).jpg, The Virgin and Child File:Chanter Angelos Akotandos - St Anne with the Virgin - Google Art Project.jpg,

Saint Anne with the Virgin ''Saint Anne with the Virgin'' is a tempera painting attributed to the Greek painter Angelos Akotantos. Angelos Akotantos is one of the founding members of the Cretan School along with Andreas Ritzos, Andreas Pavias, and Nikolaos Tzafouris. Angel ...

File:Άγγελος Ακοτάντος - Άγιος Φανούριος 7660.jpg, Saint Fanourious File:Chanter Angelos Akotandos - St George on Horseback, Slaying the Dragon - Google Art Project.jpg, St George on Horseback, Slaying the Dragon File:St George riding Louvre MI351 n2.jpg, St George File:Angelos Akotantos - The Congregation of the Archangels - WGA00098.jpg, Congregation of the Archangels File:St John the Baptist by Angelos Akotantos (Byzantine museum).jpg, John the Baptist File:Tree of Jesus Signed by Angelos.png, Tree of Jesus File:Angelos Akotantos Jesus.png, Jesus, Mary, and Saint John File:Pantokrator by byzantine anonim, poss. by Angelus (15th c., Pushkin museum).jpg, Jesus by Angelos File:Christ Enthroned Cretan.png, Christ Enthroned File:Christ Enthroned Orange.png, Christ Enthroned

Notable works

* ''

The Virgin Eleousa ''The Virgin Eleousa'' is a tempera painting attributed to Angelos Akotantos. Angelos Akotantos was a Greek painter active on the island of Crete during the first half of the 15th century. He is considered one of the founding members of the Creta ...

'' * ''

Christ the Vine (Angelo) Christ the Vine is a tempera painting created by Greek painter Angelos. Angelos was active from 1425 to 1457. He was a teacher and protopsaltis (first chanter). His students included some of the most famous painters of the early Cretan Renaissan ...

References

External links

*
List of works of art shown in the exhibition "Byzantium: Faith and Power (1261–1557)", The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, March 23 – July 4, 2004.

Article in the newspaper
''

Kathimerini ''Kathimerini'' (Greek: Η Καθημερινή, pronounced kaθimeriˈni meaning ''The Daily'') is a daily, political and financial morning newspaper published in Athens. Its first edition was printed on September 15, 1919. and it is considered ...

''
Byzantium: faith and power (1261–1557)
an exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art (fully available online as PDF), which contains material on Akotantos {{DEFAULTSORT:Akotantos, Angelos 15th-century Greek people 1450 deaths Artists from Heraklion Cretan Renaissance painters Christian hagiographers Greek icon painters Year of birth unknown 15th-century Greek painters 15th-century Greek educators 15th-century Greek musicians People from Crete

History

Gallery

Notable works

See also

References

External links