Christodoulos Aronis was a

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 ...

fine artist In European academic traditions, fine art is developed primarily for aesthetics or creative expression, distinguishing it from decorative art or applied art, which also has to serve some practical function, such as pottery or most metalwork. ...

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professor ...

and

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...

who lived and worked in

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders wit ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

and

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to th ...

and was born in

Paxi Paxos ( gr, Παξός) is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea, lying just south of Corfu. As a group with the nearby island of Antipaxos and adjoining islets, it is also called by the plural form Paxi or Paxoi ( gr, Παξοί, pronounced in Engl ...

Life

Christodoulos Aronis was born in 1884 in the village of Dendiatika, on the island of Paxos, Greece (see

).Bogdanos, S., Paxos Picture Gallery, Paxos Municipality, Guide (April 2009) He graduated from the

Athens School of Fine Arts The Athens School of Fine Arts (ASFA; el, Ανωτάτη Σχολή Καλών Τεχνών, ΑΣΚΤ, literally: Highest School of Fine Arts), is Greece's premier Art school whose main objective is to develop the artistic talents of its student ...

in 1912, receiving its second highest prize, and then went on to become a painter, professor and a priest. He lived and worked for many years as a minister at St Luke's Orthodox Cathedral, Glasgow http://www.stluke.org.uk/page14.html retrieved 26 September 2009 and The Greek Orthodox Cathedral of

Saint Sophia (London) In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and denomination. In Catholic, Eastern Orth ...

. He died in Corfu in 1973 and is buried in the cemetery of Taxiarhon Church in Longos, Paxos.

Work

His first exhibition, of forty paintings, took place on 13 August 1967 in the hall of the Public Elementary School in

Gaios Gaios ( el, Γάιος, ) is the main port on Paxos, the smallest of the seven principal Ionian Islands, in Greece. Gaios is situated on the east coast of the island. It is named after a homonymous pupil of Paul the Apostle, who brought Chris ...

. This is now the Paxos Picture Gallery, and is owned by the Municipality of Paxos. A second exhibition was organised in December 1988, by the

Archbishop of Corfu The Archdiocese of Corfu, Zakynthos, and Cefalonia ( la, Archdioecesis Corcyrensis, Zacynthiensis et Cephaloniensis) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church comprising the Ionian islands of Corfu, Zaky ...

, in tribute to Aronis’s memory. The Paxos Picture Gallery was inaugurated by the artist’s daughter, Titina Aroni-Patra, on 26 November 1999, when Mrs Aroni-Patra presented her father’s paintings to the Picture Gallery. In 2006, her husband presented another seven of the artist’s paintings to the Gallery, in memory of his late wife. Aronis specialised in religious painting, the figure, and landscapes. Many of his commissions can be found in churches on Paxos and Corfu, and also the Greek Orthodox Cathedral of St Luke in Glasgow . One of his most famous

icon An icon () is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, in the cultures of the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Catholic churches. They are not simply artworks; "an icon is a sacred image used in religious devotion". The most c ...

s is located in the left wing of The Greek Orthodox Cathedral of Saint Sophia of Divine Wisdom in London. Aronis donated many of his paintings to the parish of Longos, Paxos, where he is buried.

References

External links

The Greek Orthodox Cathedral of St Luke, Glasgow
* ttp://www.asfa.gr Athens School of Fine Arts websitebr> Municipality of Paxos official web site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aronis, Christodoulos Greek Eastern Orthodox priests 1884 births 1973 deaths 20th-century Greek painters 20th-century Eastern Orthodox priests People from Paxi