Theodore Poulakis

Theodore Poulakis was born in Chania (then known as Kydonia) on Crete in around 1620 and died on Corfu in 1692. He lived in Venice (1644–57 and 1671–75) and on Corfu (1658–70 and 1676–92), where he had a workshop with students and assistants. He was influenced by the Chaniote icon painter Amvrosios Emboros and by post-Byzantine painters such as Ioannis Apakas, Michael Damaskinos, Georgios Klontzas, and Emmanuel Tzanes. He introduced iconographic innovations and narrative techniques, emphasizing the physicality of the bodies, vivid colors, and compositions incorporating many figures. The spread of Flemish copperplate engravings would prove pivotal in developing his hybrid style. He is considered a leading figure of the Cretan School and a “father” of the Heptanese School. He was an incredibly prolific painter, creating numerous works that today are to be found scattered across public and private collections in Greece and around the world, in churches and monasteries, and in such museums as the Byzantine and Christian Museum in Athens, the Museum of Byzantine Culture in Thessaloniki, and the Benaki Museum.