Dionysios Vegias (, 1810–84) was a Greek painter of the later Heptanese School of painting.

Life

Dionysios Vegias was born in 1810 in

Cephalonia Kefalonia or Cephalonia (), formerly also known as Kefallinia or Kephallonia (), is the largest of the Ionian Islands in western Greece and the 6th-largest island in Greece after Crete, Euboea, Lesbos, Rhodes and Chios. It is also a separate regio ...

. He was a pupil of the sculptor Pavlos Prosalentis (1784–1837), then received a scholarship from the

Ionian Islands The Ionian Islands (Modern Greek: , ; Ancient Greek, Katharevousa: , ) are a archipelago, group of islands in the Ionian Sea, west of mainland Greece. They are traditionally called the Heptanese ("Seven Islands"; , ''Heptanēsa'' or , ''Heptanē ...

to study painting at the Accademia di San Luca in Rome. He proved an excellent pupil. He stayed in Italy for some time making copies of Renaissance genre paintings, which were popular with buyers at the time. In 1839 he returned to

Corfu Corfu ( , ) or Kerkyra (, ) is a Greece, Greek island in the Ionian Sea, of the Ionian Islands; including its Greek islands, small satellite islands, it forms the margin of Greece's northwestern frontier. The island is part of the Corfu (regio ...

, where he taught drawing at the art school founded by Prosalentis. He then taught at the Lyceum of Corfu. He died in 1884 in

Work

Dionysios Vegias participated in the International Exhibition in London (1862) and in Olympia (1875). His paintings include portraits, historical scenes, religious paintings and mythological scenes such as ''Danae'' (1870), a relatively unusual genre in Ionian art. He was influenced by Italian painting, and depicted idealized forms and actions. He also made icons, and decorated the church of St. Spyridon in

Argostoli Argostoli (, Katharevousa: ) is a town and a municipality on the island of Kefalonia, Ionian Islands (region), Ionian Islands, Greece. Since the 2019 local government reform it is one of the three municipalities on the island. It has been the capi ...

, Our Lady of Strangers and St. George in the Old Fortress, Corfu. File:VEGIAS3.jpg, Sketch of the dead poet

Dionysios Solomos Dionysios Solomos (; ; 8 April 1798 – 9 February 1857) was a Greeks, Greek poet from Zakynthos, who is considered to be Greece's national poet. He is best known for writing the ''Hymn to Liberty'' (, ''Ýmnos eis tīn Eleutherían''), whic ...

(1857) File:Dionysios Vegias - Danae 1870.jpg, Danae (1870) File:Dennis Vella 1820-1884 Portrait of a woman, 1870.jpg, ''Portrait of a woman'' (1870) Municipal Art Gallery of Ioannina File:VEGIAS2.jpg, Dance in Corfu

Notes

Sources

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Vegias, Dionysios 1810 births 1884 deaths United States of the Ionian Islands people Painters of the Heptanese school People from Cephalonia 19th-century Greek painters