Michael Damaskinos

For other people with the same name, seeDamaskinos (disambiguation).

Michael Damaskinos
Michael Damaskinos
Born	1530/35 Crete
Died	1592/93 Crete
Nationality	Greek
Movement	Cretan School
Patron(s)	San Giorgio dei Greci
Years active	1550-1593
Era	Italian Renaissance
Style	Maniera Greca

Michael DamaskenosorMichail Damaskenos(alsoDamaskinos) (Greek:Μιχαήλ Δαμασκηνός,1530/35–1592/93) was a leading post-ByzantineCretanpainter.He is a major representative of theCretan Schoolof painting that flourished in the 16th and 17th centuries. PaintersGeorgios Klontzasand Damaskenos were major contributors to theCretan Schoolduring the same period. Damaskinos traveled all over the Venetian Empire painting. He remained loyal to his Greek roots stylistically but incorporated some Italian elements in his work. He was strongly influenced by theVenetian school.He painted parts of the Cathedral ofSan Giorgio dei Greci.Damaskenos has 100 known works. He influenced the works ofTheodore Poulakis.

Life and work

The Crucifixion of St Andrewlate 1500s

Damaskinos was born in Candia (Herakleion), his father wasGeorge Damaskinos.According to legend, Damaskinos spent some time living and working inVrontisi Monastery,where six of his icons were kept until 1800. Damaskinos moved toVenicein the 1560s, while he was there he learnedminiature painting.

He traveled extensively throughoutItaly.From contracts we know he briefly stayed in Sicily from 1569 to 1571. Afterward, he traveled back to Venice. He was a member of theGreek Brotherhood of Venicefrom 1577 to 1582. He painted icons for theGreek OrthodoxCathedral ofSan Giorgio dei Greciin Venice. He tried to become a member of the council of the confraternity. He was unsuccessful. During the same period, he worked for both Catholic institutions and executed private commissions.

He became friends with sculptorAlessandro Vittoria.He sold a collection of drawings to him which he amassed from other Italian artists. Namely the ManneristParmigianino.He was also familiar withPalma Giovaneand may have had some contact with the workshop ofTintoretto.Some of his works are clearly influenced byPaolo Veronese, TintorettoandTitian.Many of the Greek painters were influenced by theVenetian school.He returned to Candia around 1583.

His only daughter Antonia married painter Ioannis Mavrikas-Mandouphos or Yannas Mantoufos. Damaskinos stayed inGreeceand worked mainly inCreteand theIonian Islands.He was invited to return to Venice by the Greek Orthodox Confraternity. They wanted to commission him to paint the dome ofSan Giorgio dei Greci.He declined the invitations for personal reasons.Extensive work was later completed at the churchSan Giorgio dei Greciby famous painterEmmanuel Tzane-Bounialis.He was influenced by Damaskinos.

Damaskinos works were characteristic of the traditional Byzantine style. He used a particular rose color that characterized his paintings, his figure dimensions were defined by only a few brush strokes.He drew on wood but never marble thrones which was typical in theCretan School.Damaskinos was also the first artist to introduce paler flesh tones to post-Byzantine painting and it was one of the stylistic features of his work which proved highly influential from the second half of the sixteenth century and onwards.

Damaskinos signed his works: ΧΕΙΡ ΜΙΧΑΗΛ ΤΟΥ ΔΑΜΑΣΚΗΝΟΥ or ΧΕΙΡ ΜΙΧΑΗΛ ΔΑΜΑΣΚΗΝΟΥ, ΔΑΜΑΣΚΗΝΟΥ ΜΙΧΑΗΛ ΧΕΙΡ or even ΠΟΙΗΜΑ ΜΙΧΑΗΛ ΤΟΥ ΔΑΜΑΣΚΗΝΟΥ (creation of Michael Damaskinos).Damaskinos worked extensively on theIonian Islands.He contributed to the fusion of theCretanand theHeptanese Schoolof painting. He influenced the works ofTheodore Poulakis.Famous Greek Painter and theoristPanagiotis Doxarasin his bookThe Art of Paintingpublished in 1720 considered Damaskinos to be one of the most important painters.

San Giorgio dei Greci

Iconostasis of San Giorgio dei Greci

Twenty-five of his major paintings are located in Venice. Damaskinos completed works for the churchSan Giorgio dei Grecibetween 1560 and 1583. Twenty of his works are part of the church San Giorgio dei Greci. Eighteen of his paintings are part of the iconostasis. The Archangel Michael is portrayed in one of the icons. The dodekaorto also known as theGreat feasts in the Eastern Orthodox Churchis featured in nine of the paintings. Two of his paintings are behind the iconostasis within the holy sanctuary. TheHellenic Institute of Venicehas four of his paintings. The research facility and museum are associated withSan Giorgio dei Greci.One of his paintingsWedding at Canais part of the collection at theMuseo Correrin Venice.

Gallery

Traditional

• 
  Four military saints
• 
  John the Angel of Desert
• 
  Saint George and Saint Demetrius
• 
  Saint Athanasius
• 
  Saint Luke and the Virgin Mary
• 
  Divine Liturgy
• 
  The First Council of Nicea
• 
  Arius - detail of Byzantine icon depicting the First Council of Nicaea

Venetian Cretan School

• 
  The Wedding of Cana
• 
  The Beheading of St John the Baptist
• 
  The Last Supper
• 
  Saints Sergius, Bacchus and Justina

Notable works

• The Last Supper (Damaskinos)
• Wedding at Cana (Damaskinos)
• Crucifixion of Saint Andrew (Damaskinos)
• Adoration of the Kings (Damaskinos)
• Stoning of Stephen (Damaskinos)
• Virgin of the Burning Bush (Damaskinos)
• Tribute to the Eucharist (Damaskinos)

See also

• Cretan School
• Heptanese School
• Byzantine art
• Maniera greca

External links

• Museum of St. Catherine/Museum of Christian Art in Heraklion
• The painter Michael Damaskenos
• Cretan Icon Painting up to the Fall of Candia
• The work of Michael Damaskinos by S. Peponakis-in Greek
• Istituto Ellenico di Studi Byzantini and Postbyzantini di Venezia
• Collection of Agia Aikaterini of Sinai
• Byzantium: faith and power (1261-1557),an exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art (fully available online as PDF), which contains material on Damaskinos (see index)

Bibliography

• Drakopoulou, Evgenia (2010).Έλληνες Ζωγράφοι μετά την Άλωση (1450–1830). Τόμος 3: Αβέρκιος - Ιωσήφ[Greek Painters after the Fall of Constantinople (1450–1830). Volume 3: Averkios - Joseph]. Athens, Greece: Center for Modern Greek Studies, National Research Foundation.ISBN978-960-7916-94-5.

• Tselenti-Papadopoulou, Niki G. (2002).Οι Εικονες της Ελληνικης Αδελφοτητας της Βενετιας απο το 16ο εως το Πρωτο Μισο του 20ου Αιωνα: Αρχειακη Τεκμηριωση[The Icons of the Greek Brotherhood of Venice from 1600 to First Half of the 20th Century]. Athens: Ministry of Culture Publication of the Archaeological Bulletin No. 81.ISBN960-214-221-9.