Subversive evidence regarding the birth of Neohellenic painting.

Abstract

Systematic analysis and comparative study of the eariest known written works on the art of painting in the history of Neohellenic art, has brought to light new evidence regarding its first School of painting, the Heptanese School. The first neohellenic original treatise on the art of painting was proved an anthology of translations selected from current Italian literature on art, and was considered anew as a codification of artistic practices current in the Venetian-ruled Ionian Isles (early 18th c.). Thus questioning long-considered certainties regarding the role of its writer Panaghiotis Doxaras as founder of the School and his alleged will to revolutionise the existing painting practices, it leads to a new understanding of artistic ideals in his time. Further evidence proving the direct involvement of another protagonist of the Heptanese School, Panaghiotis’s son, Nikolaos, with two of the three known written works, adds a new prospect to the study of the first school of Neohellenic painting.