Saint Theodora

Emmanuel Tzanes was the leading Greek icon painter of the seventeenth century, working within the Cretan school tradition that had survived the Ottoman conquest by relocating to Venetian-controlled Crete and, later, Corfu and Venice itself. His Saint Theodora of 1671 follows the conventions of post-Byzantine iconography — frontal pose, gold ground, hieratic simplicity — but Tzanes was also aware of Western Baroque painting and his icons reflect a subtle hybridization of traditions. Saint Theodora of Alexandria was venerated as a woman who disguised herself as a monk to do penance, making her an unusual subject. The Byzantine and Christian Museum in Athens holds this work as a key example of late Cretan school production, documenting how Greek artists maintained their tradition while operating within the Mediterranean world of the Counter-Reformation.

Tzanes follows the Byzantine technique of egg tempera on panel, with fine, precise line work defining the features and drapery. The gold ground is burnished and reflective. Flesh is modeled with delicate, layered strokes that give volume within the essentially flat compositional convention of the icon tradition.