Saint George

By Ioannis (John) Kornarou (1745-1812). Icon. Oil on wood 26.5 x 20 cm A small icon of Saint George. Little is known about Kornarou. He was of the Cretan School of art and painted many icons in the Holy monastery of Sinha in Egypt as well as in monasteries around Cyprus. As stated by the inscription on the icon, a gentleman called George gifted it to his children. It carries a certificate of authenticity by Costas Hasapopoulos. The icon painter Ioannis Kornaros lived from 1745 to 1812. Unfortunately not much is known about his life. But from a manuscript of the icon painter Stefanos Nikolaïdis (1817 – 1907), we know that Kornaros worked in Crete and Cyprus plus in Sinai and perhaps also in Egypt. In Crete he started his life as a painter at the Savvathianon monastery outside the village of Rogdia a little west of Iraklion. There he painted an icon by the name of “Megas ei Kyrie” (Great Art Thou, O Lord), a forerunner of the final version, which he later finished in Toplou. The original icon still existed in 1854, where Nikolaïdis saw it, although half ruined by moist. Unfortunately it has since been ruined completely. Besides painting in the two monasteries, Kornaros painted in the Agios Matthaios ton Sinaïton church in Iraklion. In the period 1775 – 1790 we find Kornaros in Sinai, where he both painted his own icons and restored others’ plus he contributed to the decoration of the church ceiling in the Agia Aikaterini monastery. Icons from this period also exist in Egypt, but it is uncertain if he has in fact been there himself. After his stay in Sinai, Kornaros went on to Cyprus, were he among other things painted the “Archangel Michael” in 1795. Today it can be seen in the Byzantine Museum in Athens. http://www.psatharis-auctions.com.cy/bio_ioannis_kornaros.htm?? Ο « Άγιος Γεώργιος ».Ιωάννης Κορνάρου (1745-1812),Φορητή εικόνα. Ελαιογραφία πάνω σε σκληρό ξύλο.26.5 x 20 εκ Ο ζωγράφος Ιωάννης Κορνάρος ανήκει στην « Κρητική Σχολή ». ΄Οπως αναγράφεται στην εικόνα, ο δωρητής της ήταν κάποιος Γεώργιος : « Δέησις Γεωργίου, μετά των τέκνων ». Ο Ιω. Κορνάρος ζωγράφισε πολλές εικόνες στη Μονή του Σινά και σε Μονές της Κύπρου. Την αυθεντικότητα της παρούσας εικόνας βεβαιώνει με σχετικό Πιστοποιητικό ο Κώστας Χασαπόπουλος.