Religious Art
Cretan school of hagiography
Michail Damaskinos, Andreas Ritzos, Andreas Pavias, Theofanis the Cretan. Names identified with the Cretan tradition in the art of hagiography, which began in the 15th century, at a time when the artists of Constantinople were scattered in places not yet occupied by the Ottomans. Many fled to the Venetian- occupied Crete, which became the new centre for Byzantine iconography. At the same time, contacts with Venice and the Renaissance painting of the West led to the creation of a distinct style, the so-called Cretan School of Iconography.
A characteristic feature of Cretan painting is that the static nature of Byzantine art introduces more movement, ease and vitality, while at the same time it adopts a more three-dimensional perspective. Cretan painters became famous and specialized in painting portable icons. They became sought after by important monasteries in mainland Greece, who chose them for the decoration of their monasteries and so the so-called Cretan School of Painting is the one that became prominent in the 16th and 17th centuries in the Greek Orthodox world.
Cretan hagiographers
More than 100 hagiographers of the Cretan School are known today. The names of Andreas Ritzos and Andreas Pavia from Chandakas (Heraklion), who were active in the second half of the 15th century, stand out.
Theophanis the Cretan, also from Chandakas, is considered one of the leading exponents of the Cretan School and painted many monasteries in mainland Greece, Meteora and Mount Athos-Agion Oros.
The most innovative Cretan icon painter, however, is Michail Damaskinos from Chandakas, who created many portable icons, combining Byzantine iconography with Western art.
Dominikos Theotokopoulos, the world-famous El Greco, who became one of the most important painters in the West, also began his artistic career as an icon painter. Two of his works can be admired today at the Historical Museum of Crete in Heraklion.
Collections of Christian art
Portable icons and other ecclesiastical objects can be admired in several monasteries in Crete, such as the Holy Trinity of Tzagaroloi in Chania and the Toplou Monastery in the northeastern part of the island.
This is also the site of the unique icon “Great you are, my Lord” with 61 representations of wishes of the Great Consecration of the Epiphany.
For more information about Orthodoxy and the religious monuments of Crete, visit orthodoxcrete.com

St. Catherine’s Museum
