Theophanes the Greek
XIV/XV Centuries
Trained as an iconographer in Constantinople and presumably born there,
Theophanes the Greek is said to have decorated the
interiors of at least 40 churches in Constantinople and the Crimea before
emigrating to Russia in the 1370's. The Third Novgorod Chronicle records
that he and a team of Russian craftsmen were responsible for the work on
the interior of the church of the Transfiguration, where his earliest
surviving work can be seen. (Some believe that this is the only work that
can reliably be attributed to Theophanes.) He is known to have painted for
Vladimir, prince of Serpukhov, and to have collaborated with
Andrei Rublev
on the Cathedral of the Annunciation in Moscow. Contemporaries say that
Theophanes also illustrated books, but none of these seem to have
survived. Epifanii Premudrii, a Russian writer of the XV Century, praises
Theophanes, whose style influenced the schools of Novgorod and Moscow, for
his virtuosity and originality.
Karen Rae Keck
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