Angelos Akotantos (; 1390–1457) was a Greek painter, educator, and

protopsaltis In Christianity, the cantor, female chantress, 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 ...

. He painted

icon An icon () is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, in the cultures of the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Catholic Church, Catholic, and Lutheranism, Lutheran churches. The most common subjects include Jesus, Mary, mother of ...

s in the maniera greca, at a time when that style was moving away from the traditions of the Byzantine Empire and towards the more refined aesthetic of the

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, beco ...

. Akotantos taught painting to

Andreas Pavias Andreas Pavias (; 1440 – 1504/1512) was a Greek painter and educator, one of the founding fathers of the Cretan school. His works could be found in churches and private collections throughout Italy and Greece, where they influenced countless art ...

Andreas Ritzos Andreas Ritzos (; 1421—1492; also spelled ''Rico'', ''Ricio'' or ''Rizo'') was a Greek icon painter from Crete. Ritzos is considered one of the founding fathers of the Cretan school. He was affiliated with Angelos Akotantos. Most of his work s ...

, and Antonios Papadopoulos, and his style influenced later artists such as

Georgios Klontzas Georgios Klontzas (; 1535–1608), also known as George Klontzas or Zorzi Cloza dito Cristianopullo, was a Greek scholar and painter of the Cretan school, Cretan Renaissance. He is one of the most influential artists of the post-Byzantine period, ...

Theophanes the Cretan Theophanis Strelitzas (; 1490–1559), also known as Theophanes the Cretan () or Theophanes Bathas (), was a Greek painter of icons and frescos in the style of the Cretan school. He passed much of his career as a member of the monastic community ...

Michael Damaskinos Michael Damaskenos or Michail Damaskenos (also Damaskinos) (, 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 17th centuries. Pain ...

and

El Greco Doménikos Theotokópoulos (, ; 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, regarded as one of the greatest artists of all time. ...

. Angelos's brother Ioannis was also a famous painter. There are 50 extant paintings reliably attributed to Akotantos, 30 of which bear his signature.

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 Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...

. 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 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, decline of western Rome and ...

was transferred from the capital of the

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

Heraklion Heraklion or Herakleion ( ; , , ), sometimes Iraklion, is the largest city and the administrative capital city, capital of the island of Crete and capital of Heraklion (regional unit), Heraklion regional unit. It is the fourth largest city in G ...

because of the

fall of Constantinople The Fall of Constantinople, also known as the Conquest of Constantinople, was the capture of Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire by the Ottoman Empire. The city was captured on 29 May 1453 as part of the culmination of a 55-da ...

in 1453. He supplied icons to Greek churches and monasteries on Crete, Patmos, Rhodes, and elsewhere. Akotantos painted icons of Saint Phanourios killing the dragon, similar to

Saint George Saint George (;Geʽez: ጊዮርጊስ, , ka, გიორგი, , , died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was an early Christian martyr who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to holy tradition, he was a soldier in the ...

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

Crete Crete ( ; , Modern Greek, Modern: , Ancient Greek, Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the List of islands by area, 88th largest island in the world and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fifth la ...

. 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:Pantocrator Angelos Akotantos.jpg, Jesus Pantocrator by Angelos Akotantos File:Eleusa Akotantos Cleveland.jpg , The Virgin and Child by Akotantos. Cleveland Art Museum 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 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: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 ...

'' * '' Saint Anne with the Virgin'' * '' Christ the Vine (Angelo)''

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 ( Greek: Η Καθημερινή, ; ) is a daily, political and financial morning newspaper published in Piraeus, Athens. Its first edition was printed on 15 September 1919. is considered a newspaper of record and the leading right-wing newspape ...

''
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 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