ICONOGRAPHER'S STUDIO IN AGIOS NIKOLAOS

 

uying an icon can be a difficult task, especially when you don't know how to distinguish between an original painting and a decoupage, quite popular in shops catering to the tourist crowds.  The Plaka is famous for its icon painting studios and workshops, but some of the shops demand a high price even for a small original work.  I decided to visit the studio of an iconographer located far from the tourist routes, in the Agios Nikolaos district of Athens, just a few minutes from the metro station of the same name.  The small shop of  Thymios Tourlas, whose sign reads A Workshop of Byzantine Hagiography (Ergastirio Byzantinis Agiografias), shows potential customers the iconographer's versatility in icon and fresco painting (ill. 4) and his ability to work in different styles -- from traditional Byzantine to  more "Western."  Alone and not rushed by other potential buyers, I was not only able to photograph the icons and the frescoes in the shop, but to buy an exquisite little icon of St. Nicholas of Myra with a gold background, painted on a board hollowed in the middle to create a natural border for the central image.

 

Acropolis	Acropolis Museum	Byzantine Museum	Lykavittos Hill
Kapnikarea	Guards (Euzones)	Ancient Agora	Roman Agora
Plaka and Monastiraki	Academy of Athens	Churches in Athens	Iconographer's Studio

( home)