MOSKOS, Elias
(d. 1687, Zakynthos)

Biography

Elias Moskos originated from Rethymnon on Crete, and was one of the five most important Greek icon-painters of the 17th century. The battle for Crete between 1645 and 1669 and the final fall of the capital Candia (today's Herakleion) to the Turks forced many important painters into exile on the Ionian islands of Zakynthos, Corfu or Kefalonia. In 1646 Elias Moskos was one of those to settle on Zakynthos, where he lived and worked until his death on 26 January 1687. All his dated icons were painted either on Zakynthos or the neighbouring island of Kefalonia between 1649 and 1686.