The life and times of Photis Kontoglou, painter from Kydoniae

Abstract

The translation of Professor Zías' text is presented here as a way to introduce to Spanish-speaking readers the work and thought of Photis Kontoglou, a key figure to modern Greek culture. Painter and writer, he embodied a tradition of millennia: the Ancient, the Byzantine and the modern. Fleeing from the massacres of Christians in Turkey, he suffered the hardships of thousands of other refugees, but found spiritual advise and comfort in Mount Athos. There he discovered the Byzantine and post-Byzantine artistic tradition. Later he would reintroduce the Byzantine style of painting and the fresco technique into the practice of the Orthodox